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-xr^' 





r - 




HrocI lirigaiiirr-Cicncral, U. S. V. 



THE STORY 



OF 



Company A 



TWENTY-FIFTH REGIMENT, MASS. VOLS., 



IN THE 



WAR OF THE REBELLION. 



By SAMUEL H. PUTNAM. 




WORCESTER, MASS.: 
PUTNAM, DAVIS AND COMPANY, PUBLISHERS. 
1886. 



C^ 



X.- 






h ^ 
t^-^'^ 



%tX CUHfc* uX LAibufc f AI1UI Wmi AlTiM;KAI'H Sli;NATt'KK$. 



Con'RHiirr, 1886, 

n> R II Puln.ni 



woarum rwvATi raaaa or r«»Niiuia r urr 



/ 



TO THE MEMORY 

OF 

2ri)C I3catr of (i!tom|jani) .^, 

I Dedicate 
THIS SIMPLE STORY. 



Preface. 



'npHIS STORY is written from the standpoint of a private soldier, 
for soldiers — the surviving members of Company A. It is an 
attempt to give, somewhat in detail, the everyday life of soldiers 
in active service and under canvas walls, with incidents of camp, 
march, and bivouac. The "Story" may possess but little merit, 
yet it may please the "Boys" for whom it was written. 

No march is described in which the writer did not participate, 
no battle in which he did not take a hand, in his humble position ; 
and it is claimed that the story is a true one. The language is 
sometimes rough, but it should be remembered that it was a rough 
life we were leading. If an occasional strong expression is found 
in these pages I can only say that "our army swore terribly in 
Flanders" ; and I have tried to describe the soldier as I saw him 
— as I knew him. 

I am indebted to my friend, Franklin P. Rice, for the elegant 
typographical appearance of the book. It is issued from his private 
press, and is entirely the work of his own hands. Thanks are due 



Preface. 

W. 1*. I>crl»y. K«(|.. author uf the HiMon- of the rwcnty-scvcntl) 
(Mxvv) Kegimcnt, for the use of the maps contained in this vol- 
ume. ITic fine iMrtmit of our Ca|>tain is from a photograph by 
Bla« I ..r li-.Mon. taken in 1863. 

SAMUti. H. Plti-nam. 

VVorccUcf, Mak*. 

iSth Anntul Reunion uf Cu. A^ 

June 3.1. 1 886. 



Contents. 



CHAPTER I. Formation. Pages 7 to 22. 

CIIAl'TER II. At Camp Lincoln. Pages 23 to 35. 

CHAPTER III. Cami> Hicks. Pages 36 to 45. 

CHAPTER IV. The Burnside Expedition. Pages 46 to 61. 
CHAPTER V. The Battle of Roanoke. Pages 62 to 96. 

CHAPTER VI. The Cafiure of New Berne. Pages 97 to 1 1 1. 
CHAPTER VII. New Berne and Camp Oliver. Pages 1 1 2 to 1 29. 
CHAPTER VIII. Expeditions. Pages 130 to 158. 

CHAPTER IX. Expeditions {continued^. Pages 159 to 195. 
CHAPTER X. Camp, March, and Bivouac. Pages 196 to 226. 
CHAPTER XI. Re-enlisting. Pages 227 to 256. 

CHAPTER XII. The Batile Summer. Pages 257 to 324. 



Battles ami Skirmishes 

in which C'tunpany A look |iart. 



KilAXOKE IsUCMi. 


Fcljniar)' S, 


1862 


N».w Bf.knf.. 


March 


•4. 


•• 


KiMim>N, 


1 )eccmlKT 


•4. 


•' 


Wnm^uu, 


•• 


I6. 


•• 


( ^1 >uie>auRt)', 


•• 


I 8. 


• • 


Near KixsTiiN, 


March 6. 


1863. 


DfKP (Juij.v. 


•• 


•3. 




(IiM Swamp. 


May 


22, 


" 


h»Ri Waltiui.. 


" 


6. 


1S64. 


ClU>.TKRHKU) JuXCnoN, 


. 


7- 


•• 


AKRDwriKUi Church, 


•• 


9. 


'• 


l*AiJ4ij{'s Crkkk, 




'5. 




DRrruRv's Bixfk, 


' ' 


1 6. 


.. 


CoHij's Hiu^ 




- 1. 




(*"I It flAKIUtR. 


J line 


I, 


" 


( 'har{,'f. 


. 


3. 




PrTKRsiii'Ri;, Ciins captured. 


• ' 


IS, 





"16. 
• ' I s. 



THE STORY OF COMPANY A. 



CHAPTER I. 

FORMATION. 

XHE DARK CLOUDS which had so long low 

ered above the American horizon at last burst 
over the fiery land of South Carolina ; and with the opening 

of the 

first gun fired by rebellious hands at Fort Sumter, R,,i,eiiion. 
the country was plunged into a whirlwind of civil 
war. 

If, as Emerson says, the first shot fired at Con- 
cord was heard round the world, so the first shot 
at Sumter, April 15th, 1861, was not only heard 
round the world, but its echoes will resound through 
the ag-es ; and the state which has the credit of com- 
mencing the fierce and bloody struggle of 1861, — 
that dastardly attempt to overthrow the freest and 
best government the world has ever seen — cannot 
escape being damned to an infamy for which history 
has no parallel. 



8 ///*■ A'l'/^j OJ f^ out f any . I. 

— The cicciion of Abraham Lincoln as President of 
'**'• ihc I'nilctI Siaics in i860, was the si^Mial for an 
upri^in^ of the whole Slave Power aj^ainst the pre- 
vailing free-labor sentiment of the Northern People. 
Ilu •' • V ■ inevitable, ami while the South 
was -f^.. ^ .t:ul arininj^. the North, depend- 
ing upon the ability of the Ciovernment lu protect 
it&clf. was in a measure unprepared lor ihc terrible 
and blocxiy stnij^j^le that was soon to follow. 

\lassachusetts. however, always wait hi ul lor the 
cause of Union ami Lil>erty, was ready to meet the 
"' enemy when its uplifted haml shoulil strike the 
blow. C»overn<»r John A. .Andrew, foreseeinj^ the 
appnachin}^ storm, wisely provided for the emer- 
gency : and by the promul^^ation of (jeneral Order 
' -"- No. 4, in January, 1S61. the number of officers ami 
men of the volunteer militia, who wouKl respond in- 
stantly to any call which mi^ht l>e made upon ilu-in 
by the President of the L'niieil .States, was ascer- 
tained with absolute accuracy. 

The Worcester companies. City (iuartls ami Li,v;ht 
Infantr)', voted almost unanimously "read)-." as ilid 
moikt of the companies in the state. .Subsecjuent 
events provrd the wisdom of this order, for almost 
Ixrfore the sound t»i lh«- first hostile j^'un o-asnl its 



2^111 Rcgt. Mass. Vols. 9 
reverberations, the militia of the Old Commonwealth 

T 9Kf\t 

were marching" to the relief of our defenseless Cap- 
ital. 

The men of Worcester, whose patriotism never 
failed, were among the first to answer the call to 
arms. The Sixth Regiment, with our Worcester 
Light Infantry, encountering armed treason In the 
streets of Baltimore, gallantly fought their way yy^^, 
through to the city of Washington ; and the ring of Capital 
their muskets on the marble floor of the Senate ^"''^ ' 
Chamber gave assurance that the Capital was safe, 
and that the conspirators were foiled. 

The Third Battalion Rifles, with the Worcester 
City Guards, Emmet Guards, and Holden Rifles, ^y^,.^,^ 
three full companies, proceeding to Annapolis, Md., ^^lonths' 
and from thence to Fort McHenry, re-enforcing the 
handful of regulars there, saved that important po- 
sition from capture by the secessionists of Baltimore. 
The Fourth, Fifth and Eighth regiments did excel- 
lent service at Fortress Monroe, the Relay House, 
and In Virginia. 

The State of Massachusetts had ever been noted ^y^^ 
for Its excellent militia system, which In point of Mmtia. 
numbers and efficiency, was superior to all others. 
There were many people, however, who considered 



lO I h*: Siory of Company A. 

it useless ami iinprofiiablc This sentiment was 

* ** changed quilc rapiiUy when the danj^er signal was 

I ad its enemies became its most enthu- 

M«i.<aK. iricuils when ihey found that these " holiday 

' ' * wf re ready at a moment's notice to leave 
ii.m.. iiiemls. business. <^rn7///'/^. — J^oinj^ to scenes 
of strife and unknown danj^ers, |)erha|)S never to 
mum ; but resolved to perform their tliity to the 
counif)' as soldiers and citizens, rej^ardless of con- 
^ „, , scijuences to themselves. The three months' men. 
by iheir courage and devotion to diit\ in ilu: lioiir 
of peril, checked the liile of treason, ami proved the 
stcHing worth of our volunteer militia. Their record 
IS one which will ever redound to the ^lory of Massa- 
chusetts, and will Ik! jirizetl amoni,^ her richest his- 
toric treasures. 

^^^^ \\\f \i\ day of .Ma\. the IVesidtMit issued a 
I'f" -n callinj^ for a force of volunteers to serve 

three years. He a|>{iealed to all loyal jjeojjle to aid 
in maintaining the nation's honor and integrity. On 
ihc I5lh of June, the first three years* regiment left 
the state, and others followed in rapitl succession ; 
the l^'ifleenth left Worcester on the Slh. aiici liie 
Twenty-first on the 22nd of .August. 



2Sth Regt. Mass. I ^ols. 1 1 

The return of the Sixth Reeiment and Third Bat- 



tahon, August 2nd, after three months' service, was 

an occasion for general rejoicing. They were given r^j^^ 

a perfect ovation by the throngs of people that im- oidsixih. 

peded their progress through the streets, with such 

demonstrations of welcome as had never been seen 

in Worcester before. The boys were glad enough 

to get home, but soon became restless, and nearly 

all of them re-entered the service, a larije number 

as officers in the three years' regiments. 

The public excitement at this time was intense. 
The people were thoroughly aroused. Thousands 
of loyal, patriotic men, regardless of politics or na- 
tionality, were seeking an opportunity to march to 
their imperilled country's defense. They had re- 
solved to maintain the honor of the flag and the 
unity of the states at all hazards. They only desired 
leaders of ability and courage in whom they could 
place confidence. Officers of experience were in 
demand, and among those whose services were ea- 
gerly sought for was Lieut. Pickett of the Worcester /?>«''• 
City Guards. Previous to the war he had seen con- 
siderable service in the militia, joining Company F", 
Old Sixth Massachusetts, as early as 1840, and the 
Worcester City Guards in 1855. When the first call 



l6tn 



Tlu Story of Company A. 

. \::\ A\ April, 1861, he held a commission as lieii- 

icnani in this company. His ready and jjatrioiic 

• hile others were hesiiatinj^, had made him 

:«»us. and ^ave him a hij^h reputation as a 

..... 1 t»r un<piestioned ability and couraj^e. Since 
his return from the three months* ser\'ice, he had 
1- .1) oflcreil the command of the Webster comjiany 
in the I'ifleenth. ami the Harre comjjan\ in th(.* 
rweniy-first. hut declined, preferrinj^ to remain with 
his old associates of the Thinl Battalion, who were 
armnj^injj for the formation of a new rej^iment. The 

' ■•» xM»n develoj>ed. and resulteil in an order from 
i »«»\ . Andrew, issued Sept. loth. for the orj^anizalion 
of a \\\)rcester County rej^imenl to l>e desijrnated 
the Twenty-fifth ; and Captain Josiah Pickett was 
authorized to recruit Co.MrANV A for this rej^nment. 
I lc.ul<|uariers were immediately openeil at Briniey 
I lall. then the armor)' of the Guards, and business 
became brisk at once. The lx!St youn^^ mgn in the 
city were eager to enlist in the new comj)any nndcr 
its |)opular commander, and (piitc a number of his 
old comrades in Company A. Third Ritles, were; 
amon}{ the first to enroll themselves. 

In ten days' time the ranks of the Comj'.in\ \\( re 
filird with res4»lui«- < oiir.iircous younj^ men, aiui 



2Sth Rcgt. Mass. Vols. 13 

it was waiting orders. On September 26th, orders 



, . 1 , 1861. 

were received to go into camp, and at 10 a. m. the 

same day, the company assembled for the last time in 
Brinley (now Grand Army) Hall, marched to the 
Agricultural Grounds, and went into camp, which camp 
was known as "Camp Lincoln." These grounds ^^^'^°^^- 
had a half-mile race track in the center, and am- 
ple sheds for cattle and horses on exhibition days, 
with a large building containing halls for the display 
of fruit, vegetables, and all farm products. The 
whole was enclosed with a high board fence, inside 
of which the soldiers were posted on guard duty, 
and paced their rounds with all the precision of reg- 
ulars. These grounds, which were considered the 
largest in Massachusetts, were bounded on the east 
by what is now Sever street, on the north by High- 
land street, on the west by Agricultural street, and 
extended southerly nearly to Cedar street. 

The orpfanization of the Company was here com- ^ 

•=> ^ ■' Lompany 

pleted. Francis E. Goodwin, a young business vf\-2cc\ orgajiized. 
of high character and patriotic purpose, and an old 
member of the City Guards, was appointed first 
lieutenant. Merrit B. Bessey, who had served with 
much credit in Company A, Third Rifles, in the three 
months' service, received the appointment of second 



14 



J h^ Siory oj Company .1. 



lieutenant : and the followinjj is the full roster aiul 



•Ml 



roll of the Company 



tUmk Af 

Captain, 38 
1st Lieut.. ;i 



Jo«iah Pickett. 
Trancis K. Gootlwin. 

Mcrrit HI 21I ' 22 

' A. JiiluiNtMi. I si Sergt., 42 

C*ci»r^«- iUirr. Scrj^l.. 26 

James M. Her\ey. 23 

Jamrs J. Mcl-ine. 24 

Wckome W. Spraj^ur. 33 

Frank U R. Cocs. Corp.. 23 

Jaalam (<ates. 38 

Calvin A. Wesson. ' * 29 

Kdwin A. Morse. * ' 19 

Henr> M. Kle. 30 

John A. Thompson. 22 

John A. Chener)-. 26 

Samuel H. Putnam. 27 
JuUal H. Havtn Musiii.m. 54 
Jesse 1^ Veaw. 

Sylvanus (i. Hullf>ck. W.i^^oncr. 
Nathaniel (). Adams, Private, 
Samuel ' I \lM»rn. 
' li.irtlrtt 



- / 

■» •» 
>9 



KnidrMT 

Worcester. 



(iraflon. 
Worcester. 



Norihhoro'. 
Worcester. 

Hoston. 
Worcester. 



z^tJi RegL, Mass. Vols. 



15 



George R. Brown, 
Moses P. Brown, 
Moses L. Bolster, Jr., 
Francis B. Brock, 
Henry D. Brock, 
Hamlin Butterfield, 
Horace E. Brooks, 
David B. Bigelow, 
George W. Bigelow, 
Albert N. Bonn, 
Cyrus Briimley, 
Hiram H. H. Billings, 
George E. Curtis, 
Samuel S. Dresser, 
Reuben H. DeLuce, 
Thomas Earle, 
Lewis J. Elwell, 
Joseph P. Eaton, 
Daniel T. Eaton, 
Elbridge B, Fairbanks, 
Jerome H, Fuller, 
Charles Forbes, 
Francis Greenwood, 
John L. Goodwin, 
3 



Private, 



23 


RosKlencc. 

Grafton. 


1861. 


21 


Worcester. 


Roll 


20 
28 


Athol. 


of the 
Company 


19 


( (. 




21 


Sterling. 




26 


Worcester. 




29 


1 < 




18 


1 ( 




24 


' ' [Ct. 




24 


Jewett City, 




25 


Worcester. 




21 


' ' 




20 


( ( 




22 


Boston. 




Z^ 


Worcester. 




18 


( i 




2 I 


Auburn. 




31 


t 1 




30 


Worcester. 




18 


( 1 




42 


1 ( 




00 


I ( 





20 



l6 



Tkt Story of Company A. 



iMi. 



llcnr) (*uuld»njj;. 2d. IVi\ 
Jaincs M. C*rt*cn. 
Amlrrw I-, Cx.'orgc, 
Charlc!i Ht-nr)-. 
C)*!!!* L. Huichins. 
Edward S. Mcwiii. 
John \V. Hartshorn. 
William H. Holman. 
C)TU!i W. Holman. 
Edwart! P. Hall. 
William R. Kccf. 
Charles H. Knowhon. 
IU*njamin C. Kn<»\vlrv 
Au);ijsius Knowlcs. 
Lucius F. Kinj;man. 
Hrnr>' F. Knox. 
Waller I). Knox. 
William L. Lyon. 
Charles A. Mayers. 
Charles U. Monroe. 
Lloyd (i. Manninj^. 
Gr-MP^e K. Merrill, 
p. .! M (i. Merrill. 
C 'lalherson, 



ate. 



30 
2 I 
2 I 

44 
30 

2 1 

'> t 

»9 
21 

19 
20 

4- 
2 1 



20 



Worcester. 
Worcester. 



.\ul)iirn. 
Worcester. 



.\iil)iirn. 

Worcester. 

.\iil)urn. 

Xorthhoro'. 

li..Kicn. 

Worcester. 

.Aiihiirii. 
Worcester. 



Hoston. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 



17 



Chauncey L. Metcalf, Private, 

EH Pike, 

George F. Penniman, 

Sidney W. Phillips, 

Henry H. Pratt, 

William W. Putnam, 

Orrin Parsons, 

Walter H. Richards, 

George F. Robinson, 

Henry W. Reed, 

Amos E. Stearns, 

Georcre F. Stearns, 

John B, Savage, 

George L, Seagrave, 

Hiram Staples, 

Elijah Simonds, 

Charles Smith, 

Paris Smith, 

Augustus Stone, 

Julius M. Tucker, 

Nelson Tiffany, 

Chester O. Upham, 

Alonzo D. Whitcomb, 

Frederick A. White, 



Age. 
36 


Resid.nce. 

Worcester. 


1861. 


19 


( ( 


Roll 


22 
24 


( 1 


of the 
Cofupany 


21 


Grafton. 




21 


( t 




34 


Worcester. 




18 


< ( 




21 


( « 




18 


< i 




28 


t < 




22 


Clinton. 




25 


Worcester. 




24 


Uxbridge. 




20 


Douglas. 




39 


Worcester. 




39 


( I 




44 


( ( 




20 


t ( 




20 


i i 




18 


Auburn. 




35 


Worcester. 




26 







20 



i8 



Thf Story of Company ,-i. 



iMi. 



Km» 


ftMlk. 


\tr 


Kr^'dmrr 


Hale \Vcs5ion. 


Private, 


»9 


Grafton. 


James Wesson. 


• • 


iS 


• • 


' ink Wri^lil. 


• ' 


20 


Holdcn. 


juiin Wrij^lu. 


• • 


iS 


Worcester. 


Kdwin L). W'aicrs. 


• • 


-5 


Millbury. 


Timoihy M. Ward. 


• • 


»9 


Worcester. 


CyTus K. Webber. 


• • 


20 


Brook field. 


Total : offic<Ts 


.^^ : men. 


98- 


lOI. 


NAMI > 1 


1 klXK 


.rns 




%»^ 


i(«.' k 


Ak-- 


Hr.lJ. t..'» 


Abel S. An^cll. 


Private. 


iS 


I^oston. 


Sitlney J. Atkinson. 


t 1 


4-" 


\\"(«ri'csicr 


Charles E. Benson. 


• « 


20 


Blackstone 


Walter S. IUij^lx.'e. 




30 


W'nrcrstCT 


Daniel W. Hurt. 


4 • 


24 


• ' 


John P. Coulter, 


t 1 


'9 


Clinton. 


Charles A. Davis. 


t I 


iS 


I'lJlon. 


JoM'ph L. Delaney. 


« • 

• 




.Auhiirn. 


Horace W, Dr>tlen. 




23 


Worcester 


Charles Katon. 


• t 


22 


Gartlncr. 


Timothy l^'oley. 




'9 


W Orccsicr 


Benjamin C. Green. 




25 


t 1 


Reuben Heywcxxl. 




21 


1 1 


Charles B. Kendall. 




21 





2stJi Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 



19 



James Kerwin, 
William R. Leseur, 
Horace Lincoln, 
Ira Lindsey, 
John Madden, 
Andrew J. McKinstry, 
Bernard McSheny, 
John Moore, 
George H. Nottage, 
Charles O'Neil, 
George Packard, 
Henry A. Pond, 
Lyman J. Prentiss, 
Charles D. Roby, 
Edward J. Sargent, 
George E. Sawyer, 
Liberty W. Stone, 
James D. Thompson, 
Joseph H. Thompson, 
Charles E. Wheeler, 
James White, 
George W. Wood, 
William H. Wood, 



Rank. Ajie. 


Rosnicni'c. 


•ivate, 44 


Worcester. 1861 . 


19 


Mil ford. Names of 


26 


Charlestown. ^^^''«^''^- 


38 


Worcester. 


44 


( t 


44 


Southbridge. 


36 


Mendon. 


18 


Dudley. 


18 


Hopkinton. 


18 


Milford. 


24 


Fitchburg. 


18 


Milford. 


' ' 21 


Northbridge. 


19 


Worcester. 


' ' 21 


Oakham. 


23 


Clinton. 


38 


Milford. 


21 


Oxford. 


19 


Worcester. 


39 


Uxb ridge. 


45 


Worcester. 


18 


Upton. 


18 





Number of Recruits, ^il - 



t'Mrm 



The Story of Company A. 

The Twcniy-fiflh Rcj^Mmenl was a Worcester 

****' County regiment, nearly all of the officers and men 
bclonj^in^ to that section. The commanding' officer 
was Colonel Kiiwin r|>ton. of Fitchbiir^. forty-five 
years of age. firm and dignified in hearing, genial and 
courteous to ever)* one. For many years connected 
with the Massachusetts Militia, he was a thorough 
soldier and a brave officer. Resigning on account 
of disability affer more than a year's service, it is but 
little to say that he was beloved by every soldier in 
the Regiment. He still lives (April. iS86). a wreck 
of hi«i former self, having lost his sight l)\ a terrible 
liile blasting rocks. Peace be witli liiin. 
May his end lie like the going down of tlu- sun in a 
cloudless sky^-calm, serene, and beautiful. 

The Lieutcrnanl-Colonel was A. !> i\. Sprague, 
'it build and gentlemanly ajjpearance. thirty- 
lour )»*ars of age, and a resilient of Worcester. H(*. 
also, was a militia officer of ytrars of experience. 
and vrx'ed during the three nu)nlhs' camj^aign as 
Captain of Company A (City (iuartls), in the Third 
liattalion Rifles. He was thoroughly familiar with 
militar)' tactics, and a strict disciplinarian. lb- re- 
signed after about a year's service in ihi- Iw* iu\ - 
fifth. an<l ap|KMred again in the field as Colonel of 



i86i. 



2§th Re of., Mass. Vols. 21 

the Fifty-first, a nine months' regiment ; later he was 
Colonel of the Second Massachusetts Heavy Ar- 
tillery, and was mustered out of the service in 1865 
as Brevet Brigadier-General. He is, at present 
writing, living in Worcester, and is still on duty as 
Sheriff of the County. 

Major Matthew J. McCafferty was thirty-two years 

l\I(ijor 

old, and a resident of Worcester. He was one of McCaf- 
the (very) few lawyers of Worcester who, in 1861, f'-'*'^y- 
locked their office doors, threw away the keys, and 
fought under the starry folds of "Old Glory." He 
was also a three months' man, serving as Lieutenant 
in the Emmet Guards ; and remained with the 
Twenty-fifth until after the battles of Roanoke and 
New Berne, when he returned home and effectively 
aided the cause by furthering enlistments, and de- 
livering many patriotic addresses. At the time of 
his death, in May, 1885, he was one of the justices 
of the Boston Municipal Court. 

Our Adjutant was Elijah A. Harkness, twenty- 
three years old, and a man of very delicate build for ^'O^f'^f^^ 

... -. •ii'-iir 111 Harkness. 

a soldier. He resided in Worcester, and had served 
in the three months' campaign as Lieutenant in the 
City Guards. He resigned to accept the position 



The Storv of Company A. 



ol Major m ihc iiiiy iir^i Rc^Minciu. Alicr tlu- war 

he went Co Chicajjo, wlicre he died. 

'llie Surveon was I. Marcus Rice, a well known 
tt*.t physician of Worcester, ihiriy-foiir years old. Me 
was wounded at Roanoke, was afterwards Medical 
Director of the Eijjhteenth Army Corps, and still 
later. Medical lnsj>ector of the Army of llu* Janus. 
scn'injj through the war. He is still in practice in 
Worcester, as genial and full of business as ever. 

Our Chajilain was R<-v. Horace James, Pastor of 

. . the Old South Church in Worcester. After the 

j^w^t. battle of New Berne he had charge of the freedmcn, 

and was afterwards CajUain and Assistant Ouarler- 

master, L*. S. \'ols. li<.- dictl in 1S75. 

'I*he (Quartermaster. William ( ). Brown of l-'itch- 
burg, was forty-six years of age. I le was a man — 
ever)botly liked him — always pleasant, and ever 
ready to do a good turn for the private soldier — 
no wonder ever)'body liked him. lie served his 
full time of three years, and is now living in I'itch- 
burg. holding the office t)f County Commissionirr. 
Ever)'lxKly likes him still. 

I^*t us now glance at life in Camj) Lincoln. 



CHAPTER II. 



AT CAMP LINCOLN. 

T^HE MEMBERS of the Company, after selecting 

tent-mates, quickly adapted themselves to the 
routine of camp life. The work of drill and disci- Adapta- 
pline now befjan in earnest. The nucleus of old 

^ =• Camp 

soldiers in the ranks of the Company was of great Life. 
advantage ; as instructors to the new men they were 
invaluable. This was soon manifested in the excel- 
lent appearance of the Company on drill or parade. 
Company A was assigned the post of honor on the 
right of the regimental line. 

It was interesting to witness the change from citi- 
zens to soldiers. Camp life was new to the major- 
ity of the Company, but after a few days of the regu- 
lar company drill, and a few nights of sleeping in 
tents, the novelty wore off ; and when the time came 
to break camp, it was hard to distinguish the three, 
months men from those of less experience. 
4 



The Sfory of Company A. 

Comi>an) A. bcinjj ihc riglu flank company, was 

* *' tlrilUil iu ihc bayonet exercise, and also the skir- 
mish drill. These evolutions always attracted a crowd 
of s|K*cialors from the niiml>ers which thrt)ngL*d ihc 
grounds, and were perlormeii with the greatest tn- 
ihusiasm by the Company daily. As to amusements 
while in Camp Lincoln, it must be confessed that 
the crowds of visitors were so great that there was 
little time to attend to any : still athletic exercises 
were indulgeil in to some extent. Boxing, g)mnas- 
lics, and running races arouml the half-mile track 
were daily practiced. The weather was delightful 
during the stay of the Twenty-fifth at Camp Lincoln ; 
and although the nights were often cold and frosty, 
the ilays were clear and bright. The recollection of 
those cri.sp. sparkling October da\s of iS6i comes 
back to us like the memory of a pleasant dream. 

The tents used by the Compan) in Camp Lincoln 
were A tents, and were intended to hold six men 
each, with all their e(juijMnents. This was rather 
crowding things, and a gooil ileal like j)acking sar- 
dines in a l>ox ; still it was taken as a matter of course, 
and the inconvenience submitted to in j)erfect good 
nature. These tents were, some time after, ex- 
changed for Sibley tents, — much more comfortable 



Ttmli 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 25 

-later for shelter tents, and at last, while before 



Petersburg, for no tents at all. 

The streets in Camp Lincoln were named. Our 
company street was designated, as the signboard 
read, "Pickett Avenue," in honor of our Captain. Camp 
The tents bore names accordincr to the whims of the ^^"^"- 
occupants. One was known as "Rovers' Lodge," 
another as "Whispering House," probably because 
it was the noisiest tent on the street. There were 
"Upton's Hotel," "Orphans' Home" and others. 
These were amusing to visitors and created a deal 
of merriment as they read the names. So with drill- 
ing four or five hours daily, guard mounting, dress 
parade, inspection, and crowds of visitors, the days 
passed rapidly away. 

On the 17th of October we were mustered into 
the service of the United States by Captain I. M. 
Goodhue, and were citizens no longer. Clothing 
was served out to us at this time, and bidding adieu 
to citizens' attire for three years, we were arrayed 
in the blue of Uncle Sam ; and with the ungainly 
black regulation hat, and clumsy overcoat and bro- 
gans, the transformation from citizens to soldiers was 
complete. The brogans caused a deal of fun among 
the boys, and some were loth to give up the nice- 



26 The Story of Company A. 

fitting civilian's lxx)i. and tried to fi^du it out on that 

line ; but the bmjjan conc|uered. and it was found by 
cx|x.Tience that the army shoe wiih lis wiiic sole, 
and its broad, low heel, was the best thinj^ for march 
ing. Our rilles were sot)n afi^r received, and we 
now fancied ourselves soldiers indeed. 

! ach soldier was entitled to clothing as follows : 
One tlress (frock) coat t>f dark blue cloth, with brass 
buttons : one fatigue jacket, dark blue, coarser cloth, 
brass buttons ; pants and overcoat of lij^ht blue ; 
U'<M>len shirts and ilrawers. blue-mixed or j^ray ; solid 
seweti broj^ans tied with leather strintcs ; and finally 
the broad-brimmed black frit hat. turned u|) on the 
left with a brass eaj^le to fastt-n it in thai {position ; 
and the blue cap with a broad visor, with the number 
of the rej^iment and the letter of th<- comjjany on 
the crown, which sloped towards the visor. Such 
was the cloihinj^ of the soldier of iS6i at Camp Lin- 
coln, lie also drew a lar^a*. bnnvn I' S Mankit 
and a rublM:r blanket. 

In his every-ilay (»r workins^ dress whiK- in Camp 
Lincoln, our soUlier wore his blue jacket with brass 
buttons, his pants of lij.(ht blue, and cap with broad 
visor: and with his woolen shirt, drawers, stockinjjs 
and brogans. he was. if n«>t a hantlsomc, at Uast a 



2^111 RcgL, Mass. Vols. 27 

comfortable looking soldier. At dress parade, in- 

• ' 1 • 1 1-11 1 1861. 

spections and reviews, he wore his blue dress coat, 

and the ugly black felt hat turned up at the side, 
instead of the blue jacket and fatigue cap. 

This is, as we call him up froni memory, the way 
our Company A soldier was dressed at Camp Lin- 
coln. As we stood in line in heavy marching order, in 
we were dressed in our best, with equipments on,'^^'"'^^'"''^ 

Order. 

rifles to the shoulder, and knapsacks on our backs.* 
The knapsack contained all we possessed in the way 
of extra clothing, and the overcoat, while in a neat 
roll on its top was the woolen blanket with the rub- 
ber blanket outside. The haversack contained a tin 
plate, knife, fork, spoon, and a tin cup holding a 
(juart. The canteen filled with water was indispen- 
sable. Now, for the moment, if we look at him '^^^^^ 
three years later, we shall find something of a ^^^^^ 
change in his appearance. He is in the trenches 
before Petersburg during that terrible summer of 
1864. His knapsack is gone — they were all stored 
in Portsmouth during the Petersburg campaign. 
The ugly black hat with its brass eagle has disap- 
peared ; that vanished in Carolina long ago. Over- 

*The total weight uf arms, e(]uipuients and extra clothing carried by each 
soldier was about forty-live pounds. It is safe to say that the knapsacks were 
never again loaded so heavilv as at this time. 



28 Thf Story of Company . I. 

coats have nearly all departed, and very few have 

wckjIcii blankets. Thus we see the veteran stripped 
to the very lightest possiMe fi^htin^ trim : the clothes 
* which he has on, his equipments, his trusty old En- 
field rifle, his haversack containing; plate and other 
utensils, canteen and rubber blanket, are all that he 
carries with him. The last is rolled lenjjlhwise and 
thrown over the neck like a horse collar, with the ends 
tied toj^ether hanging down the left side. The wool- 
en blanket, if he |)ossessed one. was rolled within the 
other. That is all that is left of our soldier now. 
Tents there are none: he sleeps on ilu- j^aound in 
the o|>en air. His comrades are many of them dead, 
in rebel prisons, sick, and scattered faraway — but I 
anticipate. 

;lic 2lsl of October iht- regimental baggage 
waguns arrived, twelve in all. Iiesides the hospital 
teams, and the lonesome looking ambulances. On 
the ^Olh. the Reginu-nt was reviewed by (jovernor 
Andrew and staff, the grounds being crowded with 
s|>ectalors. The Ciovernor maile a stirring atldress 
to the soldiers, and complimented ilur Regiment on 
its fine and soldierly appearance. 

On ih** ^ !st of October tirders were givin to break 
camp. ill was excitement : the packing of 



i86i, 



Rations 



2§th Regt., Mass. Vols. 29 

knapsacks — and they were never so solidly packed 
again ; orders quickly given and as quickly obeyed ; 
the hum of hurried conversation, and bursts of 
laughter from the different tents — all denoted that 
we were to move. A collation provided by Wor- 
cester ladies was served in the Hall, a good part of 
the rations which were on the tables quietly finding 
a place in the haversacks of the soldiers. Rations? 
— army rations ? — nay, verily ; generous, kind, too ^""'^ 
kind, friends of the soldiers allowed us to eat very 
little of army rations while at Camp Lincoln. In- 
deed, it seemed as if we had everything but army 
rations. It was a different story a few days after — 
nothing but army rations then. Pies, cakes, butter, 
and all the various knicknacks of civilized cookery 
vanished, and the substantial salt horse and hard 
tack came to the front, and came to stay. After all, 
the ordinary bill of fare of the private soldier, com- 
pared with that of his civilized friends, was the 
healthier of the two. 

The men were now placed in position around their 
respective tents ; at a given signal every tent fell as 
if by magic, and Camp Lincoln was numbered among 
the things that were. Regimental line was formed 
about three o'clock, and as we stood there in heavy 



30 Tht Story of Company A. 



1861. 



^ order, it certainly appeared nu)rc like busi- 
ness; an(! it sreined hartlly possible that these men, 
tanncii . onth's exposure to the open air, could 
be the same pale-faced ones who first ap|jeared in 
citizens* dress at Camp Lincoln. 

I*assinj; out of the western j^ate. ih(.' j^rincipal 
entrance to the pounds, we moved throu^di A^^ricul- 
^" ' tural ami Hij^hland streets, antl wheelinj^ into Main 
Street, marched company front to the Common, 
where the train was waitinj^ for us on the Norwich 
niiln>ad. I he most intense excitement prevailed 
throuj^hout the city. Such crowds of people filled 
\\\f 'Streets as to impede the march of the Rej^iment; 
Aindow hail its anxious interested faces ; roofs 
of build in)^ were crowtled with exciictl men ; cheers 
frt>m the crowds res|)oniled lo wiih ihctrs from the 
Rejjiment : the waving of handkerchiefs anil flag^s ; 
and the stirrinj^ strains of the Regimental Hand — 
all tended to make it one of the most i-xcitin^^^ scenes 
wc* had fv»T wiinesseil. 
^'^ " At 4 J . M., the train was in motion, and amid ileaf- 
eninjj cheers and lUitterini; of hanilkerchiefs. moved 
rapiilly off. I*"ainier j^rew the cheerin^^ ami soon 
died away ; and the soKliers, excited as iluy were 
when they entered the cars, so«)n <|uieted ilown. and 



2Stli Regt., Mass. Vols. 31 

it was easy to see there were sober, earnest, thought- 



T Rfi T 

ful faces among them. Where are w^e going? How 
many of us will return? Shall we find them all tsX °'^\ 

■' Thoughts. 

home if we do return ? These thoughts undoubt- 
edly filled the minds of many of the boys as the train 
sped rapidly on, and the shades of night gathered 
around ; and it is sad indeed to think after the lapse 
of so many years, how many of that thousand men 
did not return. 

Allyn's Point was reached about 9, and soon after 
midnight the Regiment embarked on board the 
steamer Connecticitt for New York. We had ample 
accomodations on the floors of the steamboat, and 
with our woolen blankets and overcoats were very 
comfortable. We had a quiet passage to New York, 
which place we reached about nine o'clock on ^^ New York 
morning of November i. Marching down Broad- ^^^y- 
way, company front, sweeping the street from side- 
walk to sidewalk, band playing, and the whole Regi- 
ment singing "John Brown's body lies mouldering 
in the grave," we had another exciting scene before 
us. Broadway, always a crowded thoroughfare, was 
literally packed wath people, and the Regiment was 
received with the grreatest enthusiasm. Reachinof 
the City Hall Park, we were provided with breakfast 
5 



32 Thf Story of Company A. 

in ihc dinjy\- looking buildinj^s known as ilic Park 

Harracks. These rouj^h huildinjjs. diriy on ilu- out- 
ui interiors repulsive, uiih anyiliinj^^ but a 
pleasant air about them : and the lircaklast was not 
of the most inviiinjj character. Perhaps Massachu- 
setts soldiers were a little particular, but that l)rcak- 
fast was untouched by many of Comj)any A. 

l^le in the afternoon we left the Park Harracks, 
and marchinj^ throuj^h crowded streets ai^ain to the 
ferr)-. were soon in Jersey City, and entcrinj^ the cars 
went whirlinjj away towards the I^md of Brotherly 
Ijove, Philadelphia was reached about midnight, 
and what a surprise awaited us here. We were 
marched to the famous Coo|)er Shoj>, where thou- 
sands of soldiers passing through Philadelphia were 
fed weekly all through the war. What a contrast 
to the Park Barracks of New N'ork Cii\ . I lere was 
a large, brilliantly lighted hall, with long rows of 
tables loaded down with the greatest abundance of 
well-cooked foo<l : tea. coffee, cold meats, bread 
and butter, pies, etc.. that brought e.xclnmations of 
delight from the hungr)' lips of the tired soldiers; 
and not only were the soldiers themselves filled. I)iii 
many a haver?^ck went from the Cooper Sho|) full 



iver?^cl 
ir. \e 



to bursting. Neatly dressed, pleasant-faced young 



i86i. 



2§th Regt., Mass. Vols. 33 

ladies and gentlemen were in attendance, and met 
with a smile the hurried questions of a crowd of 
rough soldiers. Wash basins with cool water and 
clean towels were plenty ; and a thousand soldiers 
marched through Philadelphia that night breathing 
a thousand blessings on the Cooper Shop, its found- 
er, and its genial, kind-hearted attendants. 

In marching across the city to the Baltimore De- 
pot, the regimental band-playing and the soldiers' 
singing awoke the echoes of the Quaker City, and 
many of its inhabitants. Windows were hastily 

1 1 T-> • 1 1 1 r Midnight 

thrown up as the Regiment passed, and cheers from M„rch 
the houses were drowned by rousing cheers from 
the soldiers. Handkerchiefs were waved, and often 
articles of white much larger than handkerchiefs 
were shaken from upper stor^^ windows. On the 
whole, the midnight march through Philadelphia was 
an enthusiastic one ; and the Massachusetts soldiers 
felt like showering blessings on the inhabitants of 
the city of William Penn. 

In the early morning, about four o'clock, we were 
once more in the cars, pushing on towards Baltimore. 
It was nearly noon, November 2d, when the train 
reached Havre de Grace, and we were taken across 
the Susquehanna River on the huge ferry boat at 



Thf Story of Company A. 

thai place. This boat took ai one trip the whole 

****■ train, with its passengers (one thousand soldiers) 
and all -their traps. .At this time it was raining hard, 
and the weather continued wet and unpleasant till 
Uahimore was reached. We fouml the railroad 
. iriied by soldiers (the first we had seen on duty) 
trom Havre de Grace to Baltimore, a picket guard 
Ixring siationetl at every bridge and crossing. Bal- 
timore was reached about three in the alternoon, 
and in a driving rain we marchetl to the steamboat 
landing, and went on board the steamer I^uisiana, 
cx|)ecting to sail at once ; but for some reason we 
did not move until the ne.\t day. Company A being 
quartered on the steamer for the night. 

Sunday morning at nine we sailed for .Annapolis. 
We could sec little of Jialtimore from the steamer. 
save Feileral Hill, which had been fortitied, and was 
held !)y I)ur\ea's Zouaves. We steamed along past 
l'*ort .McHenry ami b'orl Carrol, where some of the 
Com|>any A boys had been posted during the three 

'****^" months' ser\ice. and reached Annapolis about noon, 
marching directly to the Academy buildings near by. 
Here we found many friends, for ilic Twcnty-rirst 
Massachusetts Regiment was on duty Inn-, ami we 
of the Twenty-fifth fared well at iht-ir hands. 



2§tJi Reg/., Mass. Vols. 35 



1861. 



Our Chaplain, Rev. Horace James, with Chaplain 
Ball of the Twenty-first, held religious services in 
the afternoon. The grounds belonging to the Na- 
val Academy, though in a sad state of neglect at 
this time, were, when in order and properly cared 
for, very neat and attractive ; but the Naval School 
had been removed to Newport, R. I., and the build- 
ings were now used as barracks for soldiers. 

On Monday, November 4th, we marched through 
the streets of Annapolis, about two miles from the 
place of landing, to a large, pleasant field on the 
farm of one Taylor, where our tents w^ere pitched in ^^ ' 
regular form. This was our first camp since leaving 
Camp Lincoln, and we will defer our account of the 
incidents here to another chapter. 



First 



en M'll' R 111. 



CWIi' HI< KS 



C^'^^ CAMl* at Annapolis was known as "Camp 

1861. Hicks." from the loyal Governor of Maryland of 

Nov A. 

,. that name. Ai this lime the I'ift\ -first New York 
//ukt. was the only rej^iment on the j^rouml. Here we 
bcjjan to find out what army rations were, and 
cvcr)lhinjj was more like business. We drilled seven 
or cij^hl hours daily, and Company A was worked 
hard as skirmishers, and in the bayonet exercise. 
\Vc occupied the same A tents as at Camp Lincoln. 
Camp Hicks was very pleasantly situated, and for- 
tunately we had j(ood water — a very important item 
in camp life — which was obtaineil from a sort of 
ravine at the rear of the camp, throuj^h w hich (lowed 
a small sluj^j^ish stream. A hoK* was dui^ In the 
ground, and a barrel wiiii tlic ends knocked out 
sunk down into it ; this furnished a suj)j)ly for one 
company \\'«- ri^j^eil up a wrll-sweep — a gentle 



i86i. 



2Sth RegL, Mass. Vols. 37 

reminder of New England — (3nly in place of the 
"Old Oaken Bucket" we had an old iron kettle, 
which answered the same purpose. The first few 
days in Camp Hicks were rather tough for us; for 
some reason no straw had been obtained to sleep 
on, and although we spread our rubber blankets on 
the ground, and had woolen blankets and overcoats, 
still the rubber blanket, while it kept out the damp- 
ness, would not keep out the chill from the ground, 
which is as bad. The consequence was, very many 
of the boys caught severe colds and were coughing Coids and 
continually for some time after. It is a curious fact 
that, after these colds were gotten rid of, we seldom 
heard of such a thing as a cough in the Company 
during the whole time of service. 

The first few days in Camp Hicks there appeared 
to be some trouble about the rations ; and when, Trouble 
one day, we had raw salt pork and hard tack for ^^°^^^ 
dinner, with water to drink, and another day no din- 
ner at all, we could not help longing for the Phila- 
delphia Cooper Shop and its pleasant attendants. 
But all this was straightened out after a little time. 
We soon had plenty of straw for our beds, hot cof- 
fee and soft bread for breakfast and supper, and 
either salt beef or pork with beans, rice or potatoes 



The Story of Company A. 

for dinner, in abundance and nicely cooked. It was 

army rations now (except an occasional box from 
home), and henceforth to the nw^X. Probably no 
soldiers in the worlil were ever so well provided 
for as were our men of the North during tht- Re- 
bellion. 

S|K*akui)^ Irom experience as a private soldier in 
the ranks of Company A. I must say that the rations 
were excellent, and the clothing first-class. W'hen- 

^^^•'"''"'cver we drew any article of clothing not up to the 
mark, or anything in the way of rations that was not 
good, as wormy haril tack or poor salt beef, it was 
the rare exception, and not thi- rule by any means. 
Life at Camp Hicks glided tpiietly awa) . \\r 
had enough to do, certainly, with si.\ to eigiu hours 
drill daily, inspections, reviews, target shooting. &c.; 
but we found time to write, and time for amusements 
Ml. h as they were — card-playing and smoking, crib- 
ii.igr. reading and writing, covering alK)ut the whole 
ground ; and a stroll through the camp at any hour 
of the day was sure to fmd more or less smoking, 
and in the evening after su|>|jer, card-j)laying and 
other indoor amusements were in onler. h was a 
pleasing sight to look into one of the small A icius 
after nightfall, and see a bayonet stuck in ilu* ground 



i86i. 



2^111 Regt., Mass. Vols. 39 

in the center, with a lighted candle inserted in the 
end, to light up the not over roomy canvas ; and a 
merry group of half a dozen card players busy with 
their cards, and of course their pipes. What fun 
for them ; hear them laugh and shout ; now a song 
in which they all join, now a story. Thus they while 
the hours away. 

The weather during November and December 
was very pleasant for the most part, — much like the 
October weather of New England ; but it grew cold- 
er, and on the morning of December 3d we found '^"'■^''^''^'^ 

Weather. 

the ground frozen quite hard, and water in pails out- 
side the tents had frozen about half an inch. This 
set the boys to contriving ways to w^arm the tents, 
and after some experimenting they hit upon a plan 
something like this. A pit was dug in the center of 
the tent perhaps eighteen inches deep, and as large How the 
as could be nicely covered with a flat stone. This ^^"^-^ 
pit was sometimes lined with stones somewhat after 

'■ Warmed. 

the style of a well, to keep the earth from caving in. 
From the bottom of the pit a hole was dug to the 
outside of the tent, in front or to one side, for the 
entrance of fresh air ; then from near the top of the 
pit a hole was made to the outside of the tent in the 
rear, as an outlet for the smoke ; over this hole out- 
6 



40 Tfu Story of Company A. 



1861. 



side a chimney was built of mud and sticks, or a 
barrel which answered as well, and the thing was 
complete. Now build a fire in the pit, cover the 
top with the flat stone, ami the Lord willing, and 
the wind in the right direction, what smoke did not 
find its way into the tent might possibly go out of 
the chimney. This experiment was, perhaps, fairly 
successful, and some tents were made (juite warm 
in this way. 

The sergeants' lent was a regular officers' or wall 
lent, with a fly or large sheet of canvas drawn over 
the top. making a sort of double roof. Tiiis tent 
was occupied by the five sergeants of Comj^any A, 
and the cook : and a right merry crowd it w as. The 

; ; orderly sergeant was George A. Johnson, a 
man over forty years of age. of soldierly bearing, dark 
complexion, black hair and full black beard streaked 
with gray, eyes black as miilnighl, well read, full of 
fun. and the best stor)-telIer in the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment. "Old Posey" was his pet name. Con- 
nected w ith the militia many years, he was a thorough 
soldier, and ser\'ed in the three months' camj)aign. 
He was promoted to a lieutenancy in the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and after 
the war enlisted in the regular service, and was on 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 41 
duty on the northern frontier at the time of the Fe- 

T Rfi T 

nian raid in 1866. He died in 1881. We shall see 
him again before the story is told. 

The second sergeant was George Burr, — "Birdie" 

i, r Sergeani 

we called him. Burr was the pony"' sergeant 01 ^^^^^. 
Company A. He was also a three months man, 
twenty-six years old, of pleasant, cheerful disposi- 
tion, and a perfect pink of neatness — a gentleman 
as well as a soldier. He was promoted to a second 
Heutenancy, was wounded at Cold Harbor, and was 
mustered out at the end of the three years as first 
lieutenant in the Twenty-fifth. He is, at present 
writine, eneaeed in a successful business in Wor- 
cester, and is as cheerful and pleasant as ever. 

The third sergeant was James J. McLane. Jimmy 
or "Jemsy," as we called him, was of Irish extraction, Sergeant 
twenty-four years old, tall, straight as a ramrod, a 
splendid soldier and a genial, social comrade. He, 
too, served with credit in the three months' service, 
and was promoted to be lieutenant in a "Buffalo" 
regiment (North Carolina Union troops), where he 
achieved honor and a name ; and was mustered out 
as captain in that regiment at the end of the war. 

* "Pony," i. e. short in slature. The meti at the left of the Company were 
of course the shortest, and hence "ponies." 



4 : The Story of Company A. 

If^msy is now, and has been for years, on the Wor- 

' r police force, and his tall form can be seen 

my day in the streets of Worcester as he 
walks his beat. 

1 he fourth sergeant was another three months 

st'*£m. «»•»». Welcome W. Sjjra^ue. 1 Ic was provost ser- 
geanl. and did not do iluiy with the Company. He 
was of a social nature, and coulil ill be sjjarcd from 
the merr)' ring of sergeants of Company A. He 
died in New York City in 1884. 

StrgMmi Of the fifth sergeant at Camp Hicks it becometh 

'^•**'* me to say little. He was by name Samuel 11. I'lii- 
nam, by calling a clerk, with no knowledge whatever 
of militar)' affairs at time of enlistment, but possibly 
an average soldier. It can be said of him that he 
was reliable : and he was with Comixiny A in all its 
wanderings, ami one of the four out of the hundred 
men who started with the Company that went 
through all its marches and all its battles to the final 
muster out. After the war he engaged in business 
as lx)okseller, and has fdllowed it in the same shop 
to the present time, a period of twenty years. We 
shall see him again 

I he cook was Charles 1 Icnrv — "liu le I lenr\" we 
caiicd him — forty-four years uKl. — too oKl lor a sol- 



i86i. 



2Sth RegL, Mass. Vols. 43 

dier. He was a heavy built man, dark and swarthy, 
rough spoken, but good hearted, and much hked by 
the men, 

Lite in the sergeants' tent at Camp Hicks was 
very pleasant. The tent was much larger than the ^.^^^ 
A tent, and with the same number of men to occupy 
it, gave ample room for a table and seats, and also 
a stove, which as the weather g-rew colder, made 
cheerful and comfortable quarters. A dainty set of 
lads were the sergeants of Company A. They had 
a coffee pot of their own, and ye gods ! what coffee 
came from that tin pot. Sergeant Sprague being 
provost sergeant was relieved from company duty, 
and it was for him to see that our breakfast was got 
up properly, and well he performed the service. 
Coffee always hot, bread toasted, good butter (not 
an army ration) that we bought, and other luxuries, 
— "who wouldn't be a soger?" Our stove worked 
admirably, and with plenty of blankets, table, stools, 
&c., the sergeants' tent of Company A was as com- 
plete and comfortable as the ingenuity of its occu- 
pants could make it. 

As time went on, Christmas, 1861, dawned on us 
still at Camp Hicks. Inspection in the forenoon, """'"^-^ 
and a holiday in the afternoon. Cards and pipes 



44 Thf Story of Company A. 

nrr jn the ascendant lo-day. li i^ plain to sec that 

.inls and tobacco arc the tlircc great essen- 
als to a soldier's life. 

A few days before Christmas we had a pay-day, 
^"^ at which Greenbacks made iluir first appearance ; 
and Gold made its last aj)jjearance to the soldier in 
Januar)', 1862. 

Januar)' 1. 1862. the New \ ear was ushered in 
by a snow squall. Januar)' 2d. at brig^adc drill, we 
had a sort of mimic battle, antl Company A acted as 
'. irinishers, usinj; blank cartridges. The Company 
ived some praise for its good work. 
On Saturilay. Januar\ 41)1. we received orilirs to 
strike tents Monday morning, so at six o'clock \. m. 
of that day, we turned out. and the tents were struck. 
It had snowed during the night, ami the snow was 
still falling as the line was formed ; it seemed quite 
like a New England winter morning. .Alter tiring 
» parting salute we marched away from Camp I licks, 
which had Iwen our home for two months. Reach- 
ing Annapolis we went, after much ilclay. on hoarti 
the steamer A Wi' York. Comj)any 1. Capt. Park- 
hurst, went on board the schooner Skirmisher ; 
com|)anies D and 11 on board the gunboat Zouave; 
and the Xew York took the <>ih<r sevt-n comj^anies 



Jan. ft. 



Huki, 



25th Reg/., Mass. I'o/s. 45 



of the Regiment. When all was ready on board the 
iVew York, the steamer pushed out a mile or so into 
the stream and came to anchor. We now had time 
to look around us, and a busy scene it was to gaze 
upon, llie sleepy old town of Annapolis had not 
seen so much life in a century. Large numbers of 
vessels of all descriptions, — steamers, sailing craft, 
tugboats, moving about in all directions ; others at 
the various landings, loading or unloading, — all com- 
bined to make a busy picture such as the old tow-n 
will not see for another century. This was the 
preparation for the famous Burnside Expedition. 



1862. 



c h.\i>ti:r i\'. 



THF nrRNSIDK EXPEDITION. 



IT WAS NOT until about 8 a. m. of January 9th, 

«86a. 186;. that ihc lUirnsidc Expedition finally left the 
j«a.». old town of Annapolis, and moved j^randly out into 
^'^"* the waters of Chesapeake ikiy. the steamer Xew 
/irufiFti'ick, with Cien. Foster and stall on l)oard, 
takinjj the lead ; the AWt* )'ork, with the Twenty- 
:i!ih Massachusetts. I)einj^ secoml in line. Gen. 
IJurnside modestly look the small steamer Pickett 
for his heacUpiarters. There were over one hundred 
vessels in the e.xpedition, and a j^rander sicrht could 
hardly Ik? imaj^inetl than was presenteil as it sailed 
away from Annapolis town. Numbers of the steam- 
ers had sailing vessels in tow. and the Xciu York 
had an old canal boat towinj^ ast<Mn, which bore the 
ominous name of Jioptilt S/it//. It was one of the 
fairest of fair days, and with llatjs and streamers fly- 
ing, bands playing, and soKliers cheerin*^, it seemed 



i862. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 47 

more like a monster holiday excursion than the start- 
ing of a hostile expedition. 

There had been, of course, much surmising about 
the destination of the expedition, and all sorts of 
guesses were made, but nothing definite was known 
in regard to it excepting that we were to rendezvous 
at Fortress Monroe. On the steamer N'ew York, 
Company A occupied the upper cabin forward ; the 
sergeants occupying a state room close by. The 
morning was rainy, but in the afternoon it cleared 
away and we had a good part of the fleet in sight, 
sailing in a long line, each vessel in its proper place. 
Evening came on clear and bright with a beautiful 
moonlight, but a heav)- fog afterwards arose, and we 
came to anchor near the mouth of the Potomac and 
remained there all nigfht. 

The morning of January loth opened heavy with 
fog, but it cleared up about nine, and we proceeded 
on our way. Soon Fortress Monroe was in sip-ht, ,^ 

-' ^ Monroe. 

with a crowd of vessels ; and as we came nearer we 
passed se\'eral American men of war, the Alinnesota, 
Jainesioum, Roanoke, and one ^Frenchman. The 
jolly tars greeted us wath rousing cheers from the 
rigging of their vessels as we passed, to which we 
responded most heartily. About noon we anchored 



^8 The Story of Company A. 

in Hampton Roads. This, then, was the grand rcn- 

' deivous for the Burnside Kxpedition, 

From the decks of the steamboat could be seen 
the ruins of Hampton \'illaj^e burned Ijy the 
rebels, and near by. the old Fortress looking very 

juiel but showing some ugly teelh in the shape of 
big guns, and a large number of them. Opposite 
ihc Fort is .Sfwall's I*oinl and the Rip- Raps, while 
Norfolk is not far away. Some distance in the rear 
of |-'ortress Monroe we saw tents and barracks, which 
denoted large bodies of soldiers gathered here. 

It was alx)ut noon of January i 2ih. 1S62, that the 
fleet of IJurnside sailed from I'ortress Monroe, 
and passing between Capes Charles and Henry. 
soon headed south : and many were talking of the 
Carolina coast as the destination of the expedition. 
'Hie wind blew quite fresh as we passed out of the 
'•ay into the Atlantic, and it was interesting to see 

H>w some sailing vessels went past us. and in a very 
short time, Keej>ing the coast in sight we pushed 
on till dark when we came to anchor, and on the 
morning of the 13th hastened on. with an angry sky 
over us and a heavy sea tossing us al)out. and 
causing many of the soldiers to pay the customary 
tribute to old Neptune. .Siill keej^ing in sight of 



2^111 RegL, Mass. Vols. 49 

land, we steamed on rounding- Cape Hatteras, and in 



T R^O 

the early afternoon reached Hatteras Inlet. A small 
tupf-boat, dancinpf on the waves like a cork, met us 

^ ^ Inlet. 

near the entrance to the Inlet ; we followed close in 
its wake, and were soon safely anchored in the waters 
of Pamlico Sound, in close proximity to a rebel earth- 
work known as Fort Clark, which had been captured 
by Butler. Meantime the storm had burst upon us, 
and was now raging furiously ; and w^e considered 
ourselves fortunate in getting in as we did. The 
vessels of the fleet came in rapidly like frightened 
sea-birds before the tempest blast, and we began to 
be crowded here at our anchorage around. We saw 
a large ocean steamer attempt to enter the Inlet, 
strike on the bar outside, and sink. Tug-boats were 
sent to her assistance but could render none, and 
there she remained till next day when boats were 
again sent out and succeeded in bringing off the 
crew of the steamer, which proved to be the City of 
New York. The vessel and cargo were a total loss. 
It was certainly a wild picture to look upon. In 
every direction the waves were running high, and Gloomy 
tossing the vessels about in the wildest confusion ; 
and night settled down over the scene with an in- 
creasing fury in the howling storm. Few turned 



JO Th^ Story of Company A. 

in that night without gloomy forebodings for the 

i8fo. 

morrow. 

Tuesday. January i4ih. found, as was anticipated, 
an incrvasing tempest, and the vessels of the fleet 
all lcx> close together for safety. This morning a 
c^m steamer came crashing down uj^on us, running her 
^**'"" bows into the aflerpart of the Xezu York, and ripping 
' '\ off one siile of the after cabin in which our 
iMTul slept, making it Hvely for thepi for a few min- 
utes. Soon after, another steamer came thumping 
away at our bows, smashing things ; and between 
the t^^'O the old AWi' York was pretty badly used. 
l*he night before, the gunboat Zouave, having on 
board two companies of the Twenty-fifih Regiment. 
got to thumping on her own anchor — as rt|)ori has 
n — ^jammed a hole in her bottom, and this morning 
sunk. The men were taken off, l)ut boat and cargo 
were It>st. .Signals of distress were flying in all di- 
rections, and it looked l)ad for Burnsides fleet. lie- 
sides, it was reported tiiat there was a bar inside 
which had only seven and a half feet of water on it. 
and our largest vessels, of which the Wiu )'ork was 
one. drew over eight feet. iiiings looked ilark 
enough now. certainly. 



i862. 



2Sth Regt. , Mass. Vols. 5 1 

January 15th the storm still continued, and we 
had a gunboat alongside us grinding up the fancy 
work on the old N'eiu York, but doing no great dam- 
age. To-day we noticed several soldiers were buried 
on the sandy shore, waves and winds making wild 
funeral music. Jan. i6th the colonel and surgeon of 
the Ninth New Jersey were drowned by the upsetting ^^^^^.^^^^^^ 
of their boat. The storm continued to rage on the Disaster. 
17th, and the steamer Snwaiice got aground, and 
one schooner sunk. January i8th, we counted 120 
vessels in the inlet, all badly crowded in this dis- 
mal, god-forsaken hole. Gen. Burnside came along 
to-day, looking as cheerful as if all was going well. 
A wonderful courage that man must have had. 

The storm at last subsided, and it was very fort- 
unate, for our rations were runnino- low. Hard !"'"' 

" abates. 

bread, the great staple, held out, and coffee, too, 
though the daily allowance of each was short. 
Worst of all the water gave out, and a heavy rain 
was a godsend ; for all of the rain water that could 
be caught was saved in barrels by the steamboat 
officers, and stolen — a great deal of it — by the sol- 
diers of the Twenty-fifth. We had a nice way of 
filling our canteens from the water casks of the 
steamboat. Before leaving Worcester our too kind 



jj Tfu Story of Company A. 

friends had provided many of the soldiers with 

***'■ "drinking tubes," a new ihinj,' — patented of course 
— possessing wonderful properties. It consisted of 
a small flexible rubber tube, perhaps two and a half 
feet long, with a mouth- piece at one end and a mar- 
velous patent strainer or filter at the other. Place 
the strainer in the nuuKliest of ditch water, insert 
the mouth-piece between the lips of the thirsty sol- 
dier, and by applying the science of suction, from 
the most stagnant and slimy pool nothinj.^ but the 
purest co<j1 spring waur would be drawn into the 
soldier's stomach. Consequently no sickness would 
arise from drinking any water fouiul on the inarches. 
Consequently a great number of lives would be pre- 
sen'ed. millions of money saved, the strength of the 
Union armies increaseil. and the Rebellion crushed 
a great deal quicker. Consequently every soldier 
should have one in his knapsack, and all for the 
trifling sum of twenty-five cents. It is ilifficult to 
estimate how much sooner the Rebellion would have 
been ({uelled if all the I'liion sokliers had been sup- 
plied with drinking tubes. 1 never saw ilie lubes 
used save on one march ; some half tlozen soldiers 
attempted to use them, but tiie effort was a failure: 
and thev whirled the tubes into the bushes, with 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 53 

the remark : "Damn the things," an expression too 

1862. 
common amoncr the soldiers. However, the drink- 
ing tubes worked well in filling canteens from the 
water casks of the steamboat ; by inserting one end in- J^^^.^^^j 
to the bunghole of the barrel, and getting the water ivaier. 
started we had a very good syphon, and the canteens 
were filled quickly, and what was better, without 
noise. As the water got low in the barrel, we added 
another length of "drinking tube"; and in this way 
we obtained fresh water until the discovery of the 
trick put an end to that little scheme. 

We had at last to resort to water distilled from 
salt water. This was done on the gunboats. It was 
warm and sickish when first obtained, though quite 
palatable when cold. As the storm subsided boats 
got along with rations, and we fared better during 
our stay at Hatteras. 

On the 2 1st of January, private Tucker of Com- 
pany B, died and was buried ashore. On the 28th 
comrade George E. Curtis of Company A died. He 
was sent to the Hospital Ship, and died there. This 
was the first death in Company A. He was twenty- ^^^^^^ 
one years old, of a quiet, retiring disposition, and in ike 
his loss was keenly felt by his tentmates. He was ""' '^"^' 
buried in a little church yard about three miles from 
us, and his grave marked with a wooden slab. 



54 The Story of Company A. 

Lift* on the steamer -\W^' York was not, to draw 

* '* it inilil, of ihe most enjoyable sort. Eight hundred 
soldiers with all their traps, on one steamboat (al- 
ihoujjh ours was a large one) was crowding things ; 
and add to that the terrible stormy weather, running 
short of rations, water giving out. and other incon- 
veniences, it was indeed a tedious life ; and all sorts 
of expedients were resorted to in the endeavor to 
wear away the time. In the officers' quarters they 
got up theatricals with songs, music, etc.. while the 
private soldiers amuseil themselves by writing letters 
home, reading, smokin:^^ playing cards, and stealing 
from the sutler. Lieui. McConville came into the 
quarters of the mi-n occasionally, ant! wiiii I'rivau* 
Fairbanks of Company A. sung many songs which 
gave great delight to the boys and were fully aj)- 
preciated by them. Januar)' 25th they began to get 
r*n.,;, vessels over the bar. the lighter ones crossing with- 
**" '*' out much trouble. This is a ereat place for w recks. 
We counted thirteen between Cape 1 latleras and the 
Inlet as we passed along, and we atkied to liie 
numlx-T. The ill-fated steamer, City of \\"io York\ 
went to pieces to-day. and a large number of casks 
of powder came floating by us from lur w reck, and 
were picked up by the crew of our steamer. 



i862. 



scetie. 



25th Rcot.^ Mass. Vo/s. 55 

On the 22nd of January we steamed about a quar- 
ter of a mile further into the bay to escape the crowd- 
ing of the vessels, and to prepare to cross the bar. 
In a dark nieht to look out on the fleet around us Night 
was like looking at a factory village in the evening, 
the large vessels appearing like cotton mills lighted 
up. We were lying near the N^ortlicrner , with the 
Twenty-first Massachusetts on board ; and a day or 
two after she swung around and gave us a pretty 
smart raking. Our rations run short again, and a 
supper of hard-tack and brakish water is not, to say 
the least, like the supper at the Philadelphia Cooper 
Shop. But soldiers make merry over such things, 
and Old Posey said grace over our dinner of a few 
hard-tack: "We thank thee, Oh Quartermaster 
Brown, for the bountiful supply of hard-tack thou 
hast seen fit to bestow upon us, but for God's sake 
sprinkle in a little soft bread with it, or there wont 
be a tooth left in the Twenty-fifth Regiment." 

Our Orderly was a man of varied talents. He 
had been a great reader in his day, and was pos- 
sessed of one of those frightful memories that retain 
everything they once grasp. In his younger days 
he came under the notice of Old Doctor John Green 
of Worcester, who took an interest in him, and gave 
8 



(KJ 
/Vur'i 



The Story of Company A. 

him the run of his hbrar\ . Johnson profited by this, 

***** and would talk alxjut and quote from books of which 
probably nine-tenths of the regiment hatl never 
heard. He would repeat whole chapters from the 
liible. and many poems. Old Posey hatl a great 
talent with his |>encil. and fairly reveled in carica- 
ture ; and while at Annapolis made drawings ot sev- 
eral of the officers of the Regiment, very nicely exe- 
cuted, but a slight touch of his pencil converted them 
into broad burles(|ues. One day on the steamer 
AVt^' York, while at Haiieras Inlet, he gt)t hold of 
a sermon by Rev. Mr. Culler oi Worcester, entitled 
••The Right of the Sword.' lie gave it a very 
careful reading, pronounced ii "a prett\ damned 
good thing. " ami went to playing the game ol .sol- 
laire with his greasy ok! j)ack of cards, which kept 
him quiet for hours. Old Posey was a mixture of 
queer materials, rough outside, but a kind heart 
within. I le was greatly aiklicteil to smoking, card 
playing. Bible reailing. and profanity. We shall see 
him at Cold Harbor. 

On the 26th of Januar) ue went on l)()arti iIk- 
small steamer /'//<>/ Hoy, and were taken to the ferry 
Ixiat fuixii-. where we sjient a U w da\ s ot wretched- 
nens. with little to <*at. and crowded almost Ix-vond 



i862. 



2Sth Rcgi., Mass. Vols. 57 

endurance. We could only anxiously wait for the 
N'ezv York to be worked over the bar that we might 
return to our old quarters. An incident occurred 
on the Eagle at this time — incidents are always oc- 
curring in a soldier's life — that was quite amusing. 

Our sutler (H. (). Clark) had left a barrel of sugar a stray 
on board the Xezo York, and strancje to say, there '^^^^ "■' 

^ ^ Sugar. 

seemed to be no one to look after it. Consequently 
it was removed with the soldiers and their traps to 
the liaole — a very bad place to put a barrel of sugar. 
It was discovered at once by the boys, the barrel 
head was knocked in, tin cups appeared as by magic, 
and in a "short space of period" as the boys would 
say, an empty sugar barrel was tossed into the sea ; 
and every haversack on the boat was puffed out with 
its sweet contents. Soldiers always know how to 
take advantage of circumstances — this was a circum- 
stance. This barrel of sugar was quite a find for us. 
We used \.o find 2. great many things just this way. 
Stealing ? Oh no ; it was considered perfectly square 
to fiind things from the sutler; He got it all back, 
and more too, in his charges for what honest soldiers 
bought of him. It was a common case of "Now you 
see it. and now )'ou don't," — this sugar business — a 
law, by the way, that alwa)'s worked well in the 



jg Thf Story of Company A. 

armv Solids or liquids, it made no difference — all 

wcni This timl of su^ar lastcii us a lew days. 

It is a fact, however, that wiih all our watchfulness 
and care, we never found another barrel of su^ar. 

Satunlay. Februar\ ist. the Xno )<>/•/• was. after 
a deal of trouble, drajjj^ed across the bar. and we 

Mtimr* returned to our old (juarlers on board. The bunks 
'"*' in the center of the cabin had been taken down in 
our absence, and the men were now oblij^^ed to sleep 
on the rt<H)r. 

On the vl of I"ebruar\ the scene chanj^eel entirely 
from a dishearlenin)^. to a decideilly encouraji^ing 
one. The wind had ^one down, and the seas were 
calm, vessels all across the bar. tlecks crowded wiili 
soldiers, and ever\thinj^ ready for business. The 
m(»rninj^ of February 5th broke calm and pleasant; 
the sun. risinj^ clear and beautiful, siird a radiant 
lij;hl over the Meet of lUirnsiile. ihr dreary sands of 
Haiteras. and the stormy seas on which we had 
lossetl so lonj.^. l\ir out at sea a solitary sail, a 
mere s|>eck in the distance, was workini^ its wav 
northwaril. while nearer, but outside the Inlet, the 
bij( waves were rollin«^^ in ami brcnkinj.^ on the 
sandy shore. leavinj.j lonj.; lines and patches of wiiite 
foam. M«-anwhile all was excitcinciu in the Inlet. 



i862. 



The Fleet 
moves. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 59 

At 8 o'clock, A. M., the fleet was getting under way 
with bands playing nnd flags flying. The gunboats 
took the lead, followed first by the New Brunswick 
with the Tenth Connecticut on board, and second 
by the New York with the Twenty-fifth Massachu- 
setts, having three schooners in tow. The fleet con- 
sisted of some thirty gunboats, nine or ten steamers 
with troops on board, and numerous sailing vessels, 
perhaps sixty to seventy-five all told. Each vessel 
had its counterpart or image in the water below, and 
the whole scene, bathed in the rosy light of morning, 
formed a singularly beautiful picture, never before 
witnessed by any of those present, and unlikely to 
be again during a lifetime. It was in striking con- 
trast to the days of wretchedness we had so lately 
passed in this same spot. Thus, after a tedious de- 
lay of twenty-three days, the Burnside Expedition 
was once more on the move and about to take the 
aggressive. 

The fleet sailed slowly along, and certainly a more 
magnificent sight was never before seen on this side 
of the Atlantic. The waves as though tired out with 
the struggle of the past three weeks, had quieted 
down, and we were gliding*along as peacefully over 
the waters of this inland sea as if its surface had 



6o The Story of Company A. 

never been tlisiiirbed by other than the t^entlest of 

* ^' lirrt.. 1 luis the hours passed till about two in 

ihr afternoon, when the fleet came to anchor half 
way to Roanoke Islaml. the transports toj^cther. with 
the j»iin!x»ais outside as protection for the tieet. We 
had orders to land in lij^ht niarchinj; order, that is, 
without knapsacks: ami at ni^ht the lij^hts were put 
out or concealed. The nij^ht was beautiful, clear 
anil (juiet ; ami from the other steamers we heard 
\\\i- lew strains of music, ami voices sintjinu — 

» )n I he other si<li- of J ore Lm. 

and 

•■ I Ik- re IS ri'sl lor tin- wr.ir} . ' 

•'It may be the last nis.jht's rest for some of us. — no 
doubt we may be on the other side of Jordan : but 
what is the use ? We will pass this nij^ht in (juiet if 
j>ossible. and let what follows take care of itself* 
Hiis was'a soldier's reasonini^. 

.\1k)uI 8 A. M. of bebruary Olh llu- tieet started 

aj^ain in the same order as before, the i^unboats 

takin^r ihr lead. It (.Inudcd u|) just after sunrise. 

and rained quite steadily till noon, w luii we anchored 

n^m^kf ^K^'" ^^'t'' Roanoke Island in si^dit aheail. In tin- 

iti^mj aft(*rn(M>n a tugboat came alonj^sidc and n|)()rt('d 



i862. 



2^th Re of. , Jlfijss. I o/s. 6 1 

that tlie i^'iinboat Ranocr was ordered into action, 
and that we must make room for fifty men of the 
Twenty-seventh Regiment who were on lx)ard. Our 
gunboats had discovered the Rebel fleet, so tliat 
there was to be w'ork upon the water as well as on 
the land. Soon after the Ranger came alongside 
and left two hundred men instead of fifty, all belong- 
ing to the Twenty-seventh. This made over nine 
hundred men on our good old steamer. We re- 
mained here all night. 

February 7th opened with a fog, but it cleared 
away about nine. Gen. Foster came up in the little g^^^ 
steamer Picket, and addressing Col. Upton, said : Foster's 
"Be ready to start at any moment. We shall move 
up to the Island and give you all a chance to witness 
the bombardment. Then we shall land and clean 
out those fellows at once." This was received with 
the wildest cheering, and soon after we moved on 
towards Roanoke Island. 



liUmJ 



rii \n I K \' 



THK HAITI I : OF RoANoKK 



'yilM UMl-"K.\Si;S of the Island, it was n-ijorlrd. 

i86a. consisted of Fort I luj^^er, Fort Hlanchard arul 
Fort Bartow, all on the western shore ot Roanoke. 
'ITie first, with twelve j^iins. was n<ar the northern 
end of the Island ; ami next in ortkr I'ort Hlanchard 
with three j^juns. Still farther to the south, and per- 
haps nearly midway of the Island, was I'ort Bartow 
with ten JLJjuns. I'Vom near this point to the main 
lanil of North Carolina a line of piles or sunken shijjs 
exlemleil. anil hehinti f)r north of these defenses 
was the rebel Heel consistinji^ of eij^ht small vessels 
with ten or twelve j^uns all told. The water between 
Roanoke Island and the main laml is known as 
Croatan Sound. About midwa\ . and runninj^ lenj^th- 
wisc of the Island, was the rej^^ular road: uul near 
ihc center of the Island was a three-j^ain bailery 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 63 

which was flanked on cither side by swamps sup- 



posed to be impassable. The guns of this battery 
perfectly commanded the road, which was the only 
way, apparently, to the northern end of the Island, 
where were the camps of the Rebels. Here, then, 
was the work to be done : the fleet to silence the 
forts and destroy the Rebel vessels ; the army to 
land and clean out the Island.'^ 

The transports came to anchor just off the place 
known as Ashby's Landing, and we had a splendid 
chance to witness the whole affair. We watched 
with eager interest our gunboats as they took their 
positions apparently in easy range of the Rebel 
forts, and not a gun fired, when suddenly there was Attack 
a puff of smoke from one of our gunboats, a report ^"'^""' 
showing a heavy gun had been fired, and the bom- 
bardment of Roanoke Island was begun. This was 
about half-past eleven on the morning of February 
7th, The first shot struck the Rebel earthwork 
squarely, and an explosion quickly followed throw- 
ing up smoke and dirt, showing that the shot had 
done its work. The fort promptly replied, and as 

* Roanoke Island, from this distance, had the appearance for the most 
part of being well wooded, with but one house in sight, or rather one house 
with a small out-building in the rear. These were near what was called 
Ashby's Landing, which was the point where we expected to land. 



64 The Story of Company A. 

the j^iinlx»ais, one after another, came into action. 

*^^ wc had passinjj before our eyes a scene such as we 
all had iintloiibtedly read of. but probabl) what few 
of us had ever witnessed — a l>ouibardment. 

The movements of a little sloop were watched by 
k»t4m*m}.^\ with ^real interest. It had one j^nin only, said 
to l>e a hundred jKJunder. It sailed in a circle and 
put a shot into the Rebel fort every time on its 
nearest approach to it. It was an exciting scene; 
the j^unl>oats tirinj^ so slowly ami yet so surely. 
ever)' sht>t seeminj^ to tell on the fort, while the 
enemy's fire, much more rai)id. appeareil to have no 
effect whatever on the fleet. May be the ranj^e was 
too j^reat. or perhai>s bad j^unner) was the reason ; 
but, so far as we could see. little damage was done 
to the Union j^unboats. Thus the battle went on. 
We moved up nearer to the scene of conflict and 
hail a still belter view of the cns^ai^ement. The 
j^unlxiats were now firinj^ much more rapitlly than 
at the commencement, and the fort was apparently 
al>out silenced, when suddenly threat clouds of smoke 
rolled up from it. showint( that tlic interior was on 
fire. At this cheers went up Ironi every vessel of 
the Union fleet, and the j^'unboats kept lirini; witli 
the j^reatest rapitlily. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 65 



The Rebel fleet meantime we had heard nothing 
of ; a weak demonstration attempted towards the 
last of the bombardment was quickly repulsed by a 
few shots from the Union gunboats. 

About 3 p. M. we were ordered to land, and the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment went from the N'cw York on 
board the Pilot Boy, and towing a long line of boats 
filled with men, moved slowly towards the land. 
We had seen the glitter of Rebel bayonets as we 
left the Neiu York, and all expected a volley as we 
approached the land, but a few shells from our gun- 
boat, Delaiuare, sent the Rebels "kiting," and we 
received not a single shot from them while landing. 
When the Pilot Boy approached the land as near as 
was possible, the boys were transferred to boats 
alongside, which were quickly filled. The desire to 
go in the first boats was so great, it was only by 
repeated orders from Capt. Pickett himself that those 
who were to stay behind could be kept quiet ; and 
all were promised, "you shall go in the next boats." 
Capt. Pickett, Orderly George A. Johnson and the 
right of the Company were in the first boats. At 
the same time the long line of boats astern sep- 
arated, and all made for the shore. It was an ex- 
citing time, and we watched anxiously to see who 



1862. 



Orders 

to I (HI J. 



66 The Story of Company A. 

woultl reach land first. The boats containing ihc 

****** Company A lx)ys had the advanta^'c and touched 

ground first, but it was the muddy bottom, not tlry 

land : but no sooner hatl the boats struck ground 

than the men were in the water wachng for tlie shore. 

Capt. Pickett was the first man in the water. We 

could see from the Pilot Hoy the men holcHn*r up 

iheir rifies and cartridj^rc boxes to keep them from 

. , L'etlini/ wet. Capt. Pickett and Georsj^e A. Johnson, 

*ma.r our Orderly Serj^^eani, were the first to stand on dry 

/i^w. j^^^j j^ ^^^j ^^.^. ^^,|^^^ ^^.^.j.^. j^^j-j |)(^iii,^j Qp the old Pi/o/ 

/for made the air rinj.^^ with cheers for tlic pony 
Captain of Com|)any A. Thus. February Jlh. 1S62. 
wr scored one for the old Company, as Captain 
Josiah Pickett and Orderly Sergeant George A. 
Johnson were the first men of the lUirnside Expedi- 
tion to stand on Roanoke Island. 

The boats returning (the distance was but a few 
nxis). a sort of bridge was made of them, and the 

(.lairocd that IJeut. .\ndrew of the Ninth New York, in 

for the troops t«H>k NouiulinRs to the shore 

•1 the Island. Of the correctness of this 

li i» aU'j said that the I.ieut. w.-is lired on and sev- 

' (,^h K. I.) Motintied. All of this ni.iy l>c true s«> far 

•n what we all saw — that at the tiiiitinit; of troupn 

^ t rickell and Orderly Scrjjeant Johnson of Co. 

A. Twenty'tiRh Mem. wenjfrg/tu lan<l on the Island. 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 6^ 

soldiers eot ashore much faster and with dry clothes. 

^ . 1862. 

The Company was quickly formed and deployed as 

skirmishers. The house we had seen from the 
steamer was surrounded and the door burst open. 
The occupants had Hed, but a fire w-as blazing- upon 
the hearth, the table stood loaded with dishes, and 
everything denoted a hasty departure. Behind the 
house was a smaller one, evidently the servants' 
quarters. This was much in the same condition as 
the first, not a human being to be found. In a small 
out-building w^e found fresh bread and a pan of milk; 
this was a prize, and in a few minutes both bread 
and milk had vanished, and w^e left the place think- 
ing how nicely everything works in for a soldier. 

It was now growing dark, and we prepared to 
bivouac. It began to rain later, but our fires burnt SoUiers 
cheerily, and the boys brought along rails to replen- 
ish them, and all sorts of things to eat. How nicely 
rails work in for fires — just the right size and so dry ! 
And then the fact is, soldiers are always hungry, 
and it is part of a'soldier's duty to bring in to his 
squad round the bivouac fire something in the way 
of rations, and nothing comes amiss that can be 
eaten or drank, or in any way used for the comfort 
of the squad. One brought a chunk of salt pork — 



68 Tfu Story of Company A. 



i86a. 



M. 



jjooi! : arunher. onions — j^oocl aj^ain ; another cab- 
Ixaj^cs ; another, an old iron kettle. Corporal Jaalam 
Gales brouj^hl a back-loail <>! sweet potatoes. It 
seems the Corporal hail foil ml a lot of potatoes, and 
!io way to "tote" them alonj;. He quickly took off 
his drawers, tied up the lej^s. filled them with the 
coveted |>oiatoes. and hrouj^ht them on his back to 
our bivouac amid the shouts of the boys as he made 
his ap|>earance. So with roastinj^^ potatoes in the 
ashes, boiling; them with pork and cabbaj^e in our 
kettle, and makinjj our coffee in our tin cups over 
the rail fire, we mana},a*d to '^vx up (piite a suj^per; 
and we were feelinj,' ver)' comfortable in spite of 
the rain. when, about nine w m., we were startled 
by the hoarse cr)' of the Ortlerly, "I'all in. Company 
A : tall in." We are quickly in line, and file off 
directly into the forest which surrounds the little 
clearinj^ where we landeil. We steal alons^ rapidly 
.ind silently, not a word spoken ; antl leave a guard 
of two or three men at ever)' |)ath that crosses the 
road. We come to a small stream and iiave to |jass 
through it ; it is waist deep and w(r are thoroughly 
soaked, but on we go. A light is seen a short ilis- 
tance from the road, anil Sergeant j. j. Mi Lane is 
sent to look after it ; he a|)j)roaches it cautiously 



i862. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 69 

and reports on his return that it is evidently a 
bivouac fire of the enemy. We are soon after or- 
dered back, and pass through the stream of water 
again, and after a short halt once more ordered for- 
ward throusfh the water for the third time. Sercfeant 
George Burr is left at one cross road with three men, • 
and thus we move on till at last we have orders to 
return to our bivouac which we reach about mid- 
night, havino- crossed that wretched stream of water 
four times ; and return to our starting point wet, 
cold and tired. 

Stirring up our fire we cooked some coffee which 
revived us somewhat, and in the driving rain we 
curled up on the wet ground and passed a wretched 
night in the vain endeavor to sleep, and eagerly 
wishinof for the morrow. 

"I was quite fortunate in having a dry pair of 
stockings to put on after we got back from our ^'y 

,. . -n 1 • rr ^ 111 Stockings. 

scoutmg expedition. laking on the soaked bro- 
gans and wet socks, I proceeded to put on a clean 
dry pair, when — 'Where in thunder did you get 
dry stockings?' 'Ain't you slatting on considerable 
style for a soldier ?' 'Look here, fellows, Sergeant's 
got clean, dry stockings,' and other exclamations. 
'You ain't putting on any airs ; oh no,' said a dis- 



The Story of Company A. 

consolatr Idokin^ soldier wlio had hccn casting 

' *' lonj^in^, luring the transfer. Home made, 

hey, boy?" Well. boys, these art- home made. 
My old mother knit them — God bless her — and 
I've carried them right iij) here in llu- lining of 
jE^^^^my vest, one on each side, heels front and toes to 
the shoulder, don't you see. Now if you fellows 
want to know just how uncomfortable you are, feel 
of that warm, dry stocking:' and from hand to hand 
went the stocking, stroked like a cat by one, rubbed 
on the check of another, w iih all sorts of comments 
on the mysterious apj>earance of dry stockings in 
such wet weather. .So alter washing as well as I 
could the socks just taken off, and sticking them up 
by the lire to dry if possible. I foiincl iheni dry 
enough in the morning to take their place in the 
vest as the others had done. This plan of carrying 
an e.xtra pair of stockings worked well, and many 
made use of it w hen a long march was anticipated." 
Februar)' 8th we were early asiir. antl hard-tack, 
sweet |X)tatoes baked in the ashes, and a cup (hold- 
ing a (juart) of coffee, matle a breakfast fit for a 
soldier. About seven we again heard the hoarse 
voice of our Orderly (vOld Poses'), wiili "I'all in. 
Company A"; again we wen- (juickly in line, and 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 71 

again we marched directly into the forest in the 



same road we took the nio^ht before. An^ain we _ , „' 

^ *=• Feb. 8. 

crossed that miserable stream of water and again Battle of 
were soaked throuo^h to our waists. But we were """'' ''' 
soon deployed as skirmishers on both sides of the 
road, and we advanced slowly on account of the 
dense tangled undergrowth, the country being one 
great swamp. This was no picnic, no fancy skirmish 
we were on ; it meant business this time. After ^ 

struggle 

perhaps an hour of this work — it seemed much in the 
longer than that — we heard the sharp crack of a ''"""^• 
rifle on our left, and immediately the cry ran along 
the line, "Here they are — here they are." We had 
run on to the Rebel pickets, and with a cheer we 
struggled through the almost impassable swamp. 
Capt. Pickett, who had all this time been encour- 
aijinor us, now shouted his orders, and his voice 
rang out loud and clear like a bugle-tone. "Give 
it to 'em, lads ; drive 'em out ! Drive the devils out 
of that ! " We responded with a cheer, but it was 
terrible work. How the sweat rolled off our faces. 
How the brambles and briars clung to us, tearing 
our clothes, and flesh even. It was exciting though, 
for all that. We were exchanging shots with the 
enemy every rod, and were driving them right along. 



The Story of Company A. 

\Vc ^ ai last to a lar^e clcarin^j extending on 

.' both sides of the road : the trees had been felled 
.ind lay on the jjround. and our iin|)ractised eyes 
loKI us that we hat! driven the Rebel pickets fo their 
stronghold. On closer inspection we could see the 
outline of an earthwork mounting three guns in 
embrasures, at j>erhaps two hundred yards distance. 
Here, then, was the work to be done. The guns 
in the earthwork commanded the road and the open 
space. IJut we had got to clean out those fellows 
— that's what Gen. l*"oster said we should do. We 
came to a hall, and as skirmishers took advantage 
of the situation all we could, livery hollow in the 

"""^ ground had a soldier in it ; ever) tree hail a soldier 
behind it. We covered ourselves as best we could, 
which as skirmishers we hatl a right to do ; and 
obeying the order of our Captain, "Uon't waste 
your j>owder, boys," we fired carefully, and took 
great pains that we fired at something, ami we never 
aimed at trees. We fired lying down, and rolled 
over on our backs to loatl. In skirmishing, the 
men are kept five yards aj)arl ; wir had followed 
this rule to a nicety, so that Company .\. nearly 
one hundreil men, stretched out a Ion'"; tlislance at 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. ~ 73 

this time, and the firinor was of course very irregii- 

1862. 
lar, each shooting as he found a proper mark. ^^^ ^ 

The enemy fired much as we did, slowly ; and had Battle of 

. Roanoke. 

got our range to a dot. Suddenly we noticed one 
of the Company crawling to the rear dragging his 
rifle along with him. " Hallo, Dave, what's the 
trouble?" "Hit, fellers," was his short reply, and 
he crawled along a short distance, and then cooly 
got up and walked limping to the rear. This was^^y^/^^^,„ 
David B. Bigelow, the first man of Company A -wounded. 
wounded in action in the service of the United 
States. He was hit in the left leg, in the fleshy 
part above the knee — a bloody and painful, but not 
a serious wound. 

The bullets came unconifortably near, and so 
spiteful. "Those fellows mean to hit us, Captain," 
said Dan Eaton. "Don't you mean to hit them?" 
said the Captain. "Of course I do, but you see — " 
He did not finish the sentence but pulled out a plug 
of tobacco and bit off a generous allowance, and 
running his cold gray eye along his rifle barrel, we 
heard in a few seconds its sharp, spiteful ring, which 
showed that he meant to hit souictliing — not a tree. 

Another man went to the rear — Horace Brooks, 
hit in the foot, and he limped away out of sight. 



74 The Story of Company A. 

It is sinj^ulnr ilial a woiimlcd man will walk away 

1862 

from the sjx)t where he receives his woiintl as thou^^h 

;»e could nol l>e hit again. This wuuiul of Brooks 
*"**^' crippleil him for life. lie never served wiih the 
Company again, l)ut remaineil his three years as 
a detailed man at New Berne. 

Wc ex|>ected the Regiment would soon make its 
ajUR-arance with the Brigade, when we would be 
withdrawn as skirmishers, and take our places with 
them in line of battle. It should be remembered 
that this was our first experience under fire, and it 
must l>e confessed that the boys showed a deal of 
pluck and emlurance in skirmishing up lo this point, 
ami great coolness in action. Iliis, umloubtedly, 
was in a great measure owing in ihr thorough drill 
we had received from the first : also to the cool be- 
havior of the officers. The orders of Capt. Pickett 
were clearly and promptly given, and we felt Irom 
one end of the skirmish line to the other that he 
was with us, and that he was in command. Lieut. 
(itKKlwin showed great ability antl cooln(;ss through 
the whole aMair. and these officers could not feel 
otherwise than pleased with the behavior of the mi-n 
in this their first trial. Lieut. Hcsst\' had been ile- 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 75 

tailed on the sio^nal coriis and was not with the 

1862. 
Company in the Battle of Roanoke. ^^^^ ^ 

As we expected, the Regiment soon made its '^"'''^^'^' ^/ 

Roanoke. 

appearance with the rest of the Brigade, and we 
took our place in its ranks ; but Samuel S. Dresser 
went down with a wound in his leg, Charley Bartlett 
with a hit in the arm, and Henry F. Knox with a 
wound in the neck — five of Company A wounded 
in the first enoracrement. 

Line of battle was formed as soon as possible, 
and the Rebels opened on us with the big guns. 
We replied with a volley of musketry, and the bat- 
tle was fairly opened. Our artillery (small howit- 
zers) was soon placed in position, and for some 
three hours the firing was incessant. The ammu- 
nition of the Twenty-fifth being exhausted, the 
Regiment was withdrawn to the rear a short dis- 
tance, and we rested on the ground. While in this 
position Hawkin's Zouaves (9th N. Y. Vols.) came 
up the road at double-quick, and we supposed were 
going to charge the enemy at once ; but they halted 
near and in front of us, and by some mistake or Mistake 
other, fired a volley into the Tenth Connecticut, "f'^ 
Some said they were deceived by the gray over- 



The Story of Company A. 

coats of the Connecliciil troops, that bcinj^ the color 

_ ^ ' worn by the Rebels. He it as it may. the Tenth 

•"CD. •• ' 

luait *f turned on the Zouaves to see from whence ihr firing 

^'*****'* came, and the latter faced about aiul made tracks 
for the rear, nearly runninj^ over us (the 251)1). 
Tills was prevented by the boys sprinj^in*,^ to their 
^^^^ •*"^' brinjjinj^' their ritles to "Charj^e bayonets," 

Mvr*^. the odkers cooly drawinj^^ their swords and givintr 
the orders. This stopjjeil the backward movtMiient 
and prevented much trouble. 

We had an opportunity while iyin*^^ here of seeini^ 
the effect of the enemy's firin»^^ in the brinj^ini^ out 
of the wounded. One man was carried by w iih his 
head nearly all torn away by a cannon shot ; another 
had an arm shot off. but he walked by cheerini^ on 
the soldiers as they fired. .Vnother. shot in the' 

''■'■' "'breast, was moaninj*- terribly aiui leaninu^ on tiit! 
shoulders of two of his comratles. Many were 
brou;^ht out on stretchers, and man) deatl were 
carried hurriedly b)-. Thus the orim and |L,diastly 
prtx'ession jjassed on. 

Meantime the Twent) -first .Massachusetts and 
Fifty-first New York had i)ushetl ileep into the 
swam|) on the left, with the intention of llankin<j 
the Kel>el ri),jlu ; the Twenly-thirtl .Massachusetts 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. yy 

and Ninth New York (Hawkins Zouaves) tried the 



_ ozr _ 

same on the Rebel left. After a hard strucro-le with ^ ^ ' 

^<=' Feb. s. 

the mud and briars of this miserable swamp, the Baiiie of 
brave reg-iments on the left succeeded in flankinof '"""'' ^' 
the Rebel ri""ht, and with a sudden dash and rousine 
cheers, entered the Rebel battery. The colors of 
the Twenty-first Massachusetts were the first to 
float over the Rebel works, quickly followed by 
those of the Fifty-first New York. History has it 

^ ■' Battery 

(notably Abbott's History of the Rebellion) that taken. 
Hawkins' Zouaves stormed the battery and took it. 
This is simply untrue. The Hawkins Zouaves, with 
the Twenty-third Massachusetts "swarmed over the 
earthworks," possibly ; but the battery was taken 
already. The Zouaves no doubt had a good writer 
among them, and he wrote a very creditable story ; 
but what is the use ? The Twenty-first Massachu- 
setts, that splendid fighting regiment, first entered 
and its colors first floated over the Rebel battery. 

We had orders now to move on, and we advanced 
quickly up the road and were soon inside the bat- 
tery. We counted fifteen dead Rebels lying around 
in the earthworks, most of them. The first was a 
gunner, struck in the head by a bullet. His cap 
was on his head, strap under his chin, just gasping 



i86a 
KtM 



yS T/te S/ory of Company A. 

his last as we passed. The j^rouiul was covered 

willi his blood. All of the Rebels killed were poorly 

Kcb. %• 

clad with one exception. That was a young man, 
a captain, said to be Cajnain Cole and to belong to 
l*hiladelphia. He wore a fine uniform, hat! rings 
on his fingers and gold studs in his white shirt front. 
d4^. He was killed by a shot through the heart. The 
bullet made a small, clean round h(ile, whicli had 
bletl scarcely a tiro p. 

We continued our in.iich through the woods, 
passing very few houses, and taking a few prisoners 
who seemed willing enough to be captured. These 
also were poorly clad, but were quite talkative. \\ r 
soon met one ot Hurnside's aitls. wlio said ihe 
Rebels had surrendered over two thousand men, 
and more than twenty j)ieces of artillery. .So ended 
the liattle of Roanoke Island, after a struggle of 
tlirce hours or more, and a total loss to the Union 
troops of forty killed and over two huiitlred wounded. 

As we pushed along rapidly we found the road 
thickly strewn with guns and ecjuipments. knaj)- 
sacks and clothing, tlirown hastily away by the 
Rebels in their (light. W'c j)asseil one house near 
the road fdleil with wounded Rebels, among them 



i862. 



2sfh Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 79 

O. Jennings Wise, son of Henry A. Wise, of Vir- 
ginia. He was badly wounded and died soon after. 

Our road lay through woods the greater part of 
the way. We passed on our right several small 
hills which appeared to be composed entirely of 
clean sand, with no vegetation on them save an 
occasional stunted pine ; but nothing green what- 
ever, and presenting a curious sight. It was dark 
when we reached the Rebel encampment, and we ^^^^^ 
were quite ready to halt when the order was given, emamp- 
We found here very extensive barracks, and an 
immense amount of army material in the shape of 
rations, ammunition, guns, swords and other small 
arms. The barracks were very well built of logs, 
and could shelter eight or ten thousand men. We 
found room in the building after considerable search, 
and we were o^jad to ijet under cover. 

It was interesting to see how freely our boys and 
the Rebels talked over the events of the day to- 
gether. Many of the Rebels did not seem to care 
much about getting beaten, and many said they 
were forced into the service. 

The next day (Feb. 9th) was the Sabbath. It 
did not seem much like a Sunday at home, and 
there was so much stir and excitement that it was a 



8o Tht Story of Company A. 

J^rcal contrast to our quiet Sundays at Annapolis. 

* *' Our camp here was known as Camp Foster. The 
Rebels were everywhere alx>ut, apparcnil) iintlcr 
no restraint whatever. Tlicy were all as poorly 
clothed as the first we hail seen, save the officers 
who in general were ver)' well clatl : l)iil in no case 
did they comjiare with the boys in blue. 

In the afternoon a few of us j^ot passes and started 
on an e.xpeiliiion to the northern shore of the Island, 

Tf^m^ extendinj:^ our tramp to the two upper forts captured 

i-.<r t\! ij^^. jgy tjofore. The first one and the lari^est, I*"ort 
iluitjer, mounted twelve L,^uns, mostly thirty-two 
|)ounders. The other, luri lUanchard, was a much 
smaller earthwork, containinj^ but three <;uns. These 
forts were but just fmisheil. and were not used in 
the battle of the 8th. The ^uns had been spiked, 
but only with nails which could be easily removed. 
The small fort was about two miles from the larger, 
anil Ijoth were rej^ular (earthworks and really quite 
stronj^. We found the road we travelleil thickly 
strewn with knapsacks and other accoutrements. 

Keturninj.j to camj) we lound our scpiad iuul a 
good dinner nearly j>repariil. (iood tlinners are 
obstacles easily overcome by huns^ry soldiers. Ser- 
geant "Jemsy" (.McLanc) h.ul been skirmishing 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 8i 

around lor somcthinq" to eat — soldiers always do 

when off duty — and had brought in a nice fat turkey ; 
another had confiscated a chicken, both boiled to- 
gether with a good bit of pork and plenty of sweet 
potatoes. Who would n't go for a soger ? * 

Just after dinner we were startled by a volley of 
musketry and bullets flying over our heads. "Fall 
in, fall in," was the order ; and in a very few min- 
utes we were in line and ready for action. Eating ^/,,,.„^ 
dinner a few minutes ago ; now ready to be shot ! 
The Rebel prisoners bustled around considerable, 
their officers appearing at the doors of the barracks, 
looking anxiously around, expecting as we were 
that trouble was brewing ; but the firing proved to 
be by some of the Union troops, who had discharged 
their rifles preparatory to a good cleaning, and had 
aimed a little too close to our heads to be agreeable. 
But we had no more of this, so we broke ranks and 
the camp settled down into quietude again. 

The results of the victory of February 8th may be 
briefly stated. Two thousand five hundred ^r\s- Fndis of 
oners, three forts containing twenty-five guns, one ^'"'"'-i'- 
small earthwork where the fight took place having 
three guns, and another not used in the action also 

*A common expression in the army. 



S 2 The Story of Company A. 



i86a. 



KtM 



havinjj three guns, small arms by thousands, tons 
of ammunition, and a great quantity of Hour, bacon, 
etc., while the Relx.*! fleet was wholly destroyed. 
Truly, a first-class victory. 

lUirdened as we were with so man)' prisoners, 
it required a regiment tlaily for guard duty ; but this 
t^.rrj did not last many days, for on b'ebruary iiih the 
Rel)el officers were sent away to be exchanged. 
Ihey marched from the barracks to the place of 
embarkation between two lines of Union sokliers, 
and went on board the S. R. Spaitld/im^. This was 
some relief; and other prisoners went off later, 
lightening uj) the guanl and making an easier life 
of it. 

The prisoners and Union boys would often get 
i(. wether evenings, ami talk of the events of the last 
days in perfect good feeling; and sometimes 
llic Rebel prisoners held prayer meetings in whicli 
f^^ our boys would join. Smgular circumstance, — 
killing one another a few hours before, now praying 
ihat each others' lives might be spared. Our boys 
swappeil jack knives with the Rebels, antl trailed all 
sorts of things for tobacco ; and when we saw ilu- 
boys in blue and ihe bo)s in gray e.xchanging ilu- 
vcf)' buttons on their jacktrts (those who had ihcin) 



i862. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 83 

and pleased as children, it did seem as if the habit 
of swapping could hardly be carried further. 

The prisoners were for the most part extremely 
ignorant, and many expressed a wish to get back 
home and to stay there. The officers seemed to 
think they had made a great mistake in allowing 
us to land as they did without hindrance. No doubt 
about that. Ten thousand armed men — real live 
Yankees — once on Roanoke Island, were going to 
travel from one end to the other, and no earthly 
power could stop them. It was a mistake ; but the 
landing would have been made and the Rebels 
cleaned out anyway — didn't Gen. Foster say so? 

We learned from the darky servants of the Rebel 
officers that their masters had buried "lots of things 
out in de woods dar." That was enough ; our boys 
eave the woods "out dar" a thorouo^h search, dis^q-inor 

fc> t> && c> Digging 

up the ground with their bayonets and knives, and for 
finding many small arms, some, very nice revolvers, '^>'^^""'^- 
several fancy rifles, and many other things of no 
great value. One squad did not get very well paid 
for their trouble, for they found after some patient 
digging that they had opened the grave of a dead 
Rebel. There was not so much digging after that. 



g^ The Stoty of Company A. 

AuKMi^ ihc prisoners taken were men from the 

i86a. ^yj^. [^.^,jon of Virj^nnia, Richmond Bhies, Hen 
McCuIloch Ranj^ers. ami the ICij^'hth North Caro- 
lina Rcjjimcnt. I'liese were considered amon<; the 
best troops, and best clothed and etpiipped. 

On the morning of February i6lh a lot of j)ris- 
oncrs uniler p^uard of Company A. were marched to 
u-..i ^., the shore near the upper fort, where each prisoner 
^ /'"• took his backloail of boards and broui^du them to 
the barracks. This was not fancied much by the 
Relxrls. although there was not a great deal of 
growling: but I think the moviMiicnt rather pleased 
Company A. The boanls were to bi; usetl in build- 
ing, so the movement was to some purpose. 

A scjuad of us tried the experiment of taking a 
swim at a sandy beach we found at the northern 
end of the Island, but the coldness of the water 
drove us out as tpiickly as we went in. and the swim 
ended in a ver)' short bath ; and we made up our 
minds that l)athing at Roanoke Island in February 
was not as agreeable as bathing in Massachusetts 
in July. The changes in the weather we found 
alx)ut as sudden and as great as those in .\ew Mxy^:,- 
land. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 85 



1862. 



On the 17th a large number of prisoners left 
under guard of the Twenty-third Massachusetts ; 
and on the i8th all that remained of the prisoners 
were marched under guard of the Twenty-fifth Reg- 
iment to the shore near Fort Huger, where they 
were put on board the Pilot Boy and the "Old 
Wheelbarrow,"'^ as the stern-wheel steamer was 

Removal 

called. On going on board the vessels the prison- of the 
ers had to march directly under the old flag tii^t^''"""^"- 
they had so dishonored a few days before by firing 
upon it. I think the sight did us all good, and it 
certainly did the prisoners no harm, for they saw 
floating above them the starry flag that had pro- 
tected them in former years, and which was to pro- 
tect them in years to come. These prisoners were 
like all the rest, a tough-looking set, ragged and 
dirty, and very illiterate. Some of our Company 

TJiciv 

had found a muster roll of one of the Rebel com- ,• 
panies, and fully two-thirds of the names had their 
X mark. Some said they were fighting for their 



* The stern-wheel steamer or "Wheelbarrow" was a rusty old thing, nnich 
like the steamers on the western rivers. It was two stories high with a large 
wheel astern. It was painted black, and looked like an old tumble-down 
cotton mill afloat. Of very light draft, it was of great service in the shallow 
water, and was constantly on the go. It is a wonder how she ever got around 
Cape Ilatteras if she was lirought that way. 



1^:11 or a nee 



The Story of Company A. 

homes : others that ihcy were fi^^hiinj/ for secession ; 

^^^' others frankly owned that lliey did not know what 
ihcy were fij^htinj^ for. Some had considerable 
pluck, and said they would be at us aj^ain when ex- 
changed : and some of these same men were taken 
aj^in at New Ik-rne. Others had j^'ot enough of it 
and longed for home. These prisoners, most of 
jfimm! them, were taken to the steamer AWi' }'or/:, and 
' Company A went on board as L;uard. We moved 
alH)Ut two miles from the Island, near a light house, 
and came to anchor to wait for the other boats with 
the rest of the prisoners. It was saitl that we should 
sail for Elizabeth City where the prisoners would be 
exchanged. 

We lay here all day of the 191)1, ami not until 
al)out 2 I'. M. on the 20lh did we receive orders to 
follow the .V. A'. S/>(it//i/i/tj^, which with the other 
steamers had just arrived. The vessels carrying 
the prisoners were the S\ R. S/>(iu/t//fij^, AWi' ) or^', 
Cossack, Admiral "xwA I\al>ociy. To Elizabeth City 
\vh(.*re we were going was some forty miles, and on 
starting, the other steamers were all in advance of 
the Xciu York; but we passed th<'m one after an- 
other, the SpauiditiQ inchuled. and ihcii to obey 
orders t(K)k our place secoml in line. It was a pretty 



i862. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 87 

sight to see the Nciu York pass the other steamers 
so nicely, and the prisoners as well as our boys were 
greatly excited over it, and called it a race, but it 
was simply obeying orders. 

About twenty miles from Roanoke we passed 
another light house, and soon began to see signs of 
life. Villages, wind mills, cultivated fields, etc., 
appeared ; and the land in many places seemed to 
be covered with trees, pines mostly, with the dark 
green cypress on the low lands. About 6 p. m. we 
anchored off Elizabeth City, a high-sounding name 
for so small a village (ten or twelve hundred inhabi- 
tants), but quite a pretty place for all that. We 
here saw what our gunboats had been doing since 
the fight. It seems they drove the> Rebel boats 
from Roanoke, and followed them to this place 

Rebel 

where they found six Rebel gunboats under the p^^ 
protection of a battery on shore. The Union fleet, «'^^^''^^^'^- 
as the story goes, paid no attention to the battery, 
but went heavily for the boats, boarding and cap- 
turing two and sinking four (the wrecks of which 
we saw sticking out of the water), clearing out the 
whole lot ; and then paid their regards to the battery, 
which was quickly silenced. The troops and in- 
habitants fled ; but the place being of no importance 



88 The Story of Company A. 



i86a. 



. military way, it was not occupied hy our men, 
and the inhabitants rcturncil. 

Ai I 1 o'clock of I*'cbruary 21st, we steamed up to 
the little wharf, and bej^^an to "ilischar^^e cargo" — 
that is, to land the prisoners. They were gathered 
into companies by their sergeants, and were put 
UmdtJ ashore as fast as possible. It was a motley crowd 
*^ — so wretchedly clail. Their blankets were made 
of bits of carjiet that had evidently h.iil hard usage 
Ix-'fore serving this purpose. There was no uni- 
formity in their tlress — it could not be called a 
uniform, save in color, nearly all being the same 
dirty gray. They had no arms of course; these 
were all left at Roanoke. Knapsacks aiul haver- 
sacks were entirely home made, with canteens made 
of wooil. A more wretched-looking set of men I 
certainly never saw. Some said to us in a (juiet 
way that they would never be caught in the army 
again ; others were stuj)idly inditferent ; others were 
st)mewhat excited, ami a few hail some bluster left ; 
but it was a sorr)* sight. Ami yet, these men fought 
well in the battle of the 8th. .Some of these poor 
fellows were sick on the boat, and we got medicine 
for them, took good care of them, and made them as 



2Sth Rcgi., Mass. Vols. 89 

comfortable as we could — indeed they were treated 

1862. 
like men. 

On shore we noticed some Rebel soldiers with 
our blue uniforms on. These they got from the 
gunboat Fanny, which was taken by the Rebels, 
and which our fleet recaptured and sunk a few days 
before. We were not allowed to stray from the 
New York, but we could see several church spires, EHzaheih 
and that the streets were wide, with many trees ^'^-J'- 
scattered along through them. We could also see 
the ruins of several houses burned by their own 
soldiers, who would have destroyed the whole town 
if the inhabitants had not rallied in time to save 
their property, so they told us. W^e stopped only 
long enough to land the prisoners, and then moved 
about half a mile from the town and dropped anchor 
to give the other steamers a chance to land their 
prisoners. It is an unimportant fact to note here ; 
but how the frogs did peep that night ! It seemed 
as if they kept up the chorus till morning. Said ^^.^^^ 
one of our boys : "You bet the little cusses ain't 
piping like that up home about this time." 

February 22nd, at 8 a. m. we got under way, and 
after a very pleasant sail anchored off Roanoke 
Island once more, and listened to a salute in honor 



90 



1863. 



ft i„ «. 



The Story of Company A. 

of Washington's binh-tlay from the guns spiked by 
ihe Rebels on the day of the fight. 

Sunday the 23d a boat went ashore and our knap- 
sacks were sent to us — a solilier feels lost without 
his knapsack — and we soon after moved up to the 
first light house we saw when going to Elizabeth 
City ; and after a stay of twent) -four hours, were 
ordered back to join the lleet at Roanoke. 

In one of the state rooms occupied Ij)' the Rebel 
prisi)ners. we found the following lines written in 
Ml fuil iin the wall : 

itic hoa-cummissioncd officers of Co. K, North Carolina 8th 

... , cm, do give our thanks to Co. .-\, of the Mass-K husetts 25th, 

for the many acts of kindness shown by that Co. to us, and if it 
is ever in our |)ower will return the same. 

Sergt. J. Ii»K, for the Company 

Many months after, it i>.his in their power, and 
they redeemed their promise. 

Fcbruar)' 26th. we went ashore in small boats, 
landing near the spot we first touched I'ebruary Sth ; 
and from there marched to the barracks we left one 
week ago. We noticed lots of robins on th(! way 
up, singing as sweetly as ihey vwx did al lioine in 

W.irincr u (-.(I her. 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 91 

Our mail had just arrived. Mail day was a great 

day for soldiers. The postmaster, a soldier detailed 
for that purpose^ brought the mail to the Company, 
and called out the names of the lucky ones, handing j/,,,/,/,,^,. 
over the precious letters. The Twenty-fifth is no- 
tably a writing regiment. The mail bag always 
leaves well filled and returns in like condition. 

It seems almost laughable to tell now of the ru- 
mors of peace that were afloat in camp at this early 

A ^ ■' oj peace. 

Stage of the war. We were all to be home in sixty 
days, etc. But all through the war these rumors 
would start up, no one knew how ; but would die 
out as quickly as they had risen. The particular 
rumor at this time was that Burnside had said that 
he would have his troops home by the first of July. 
Some tried to believe it, but the majority did not 
take stock in this or any other report of like import. 
Our camp here was known as Camp Foster (our 
second camp since we left Worcester) ; and by order Camp 
of Gen. Burnside we are to have inscribed on our ^°^'"'- 
banner: "Roanoke Island, February 8th, 1862." 
Burnside gave his troops great praise for their con- 
duct in this their first engagement ; and they cer- 
tainly did well, and really deserved the commen- 
dation he bestowed on them. 



gj The Story of Company A. 

While here our minds naturally wc-nt back to ihc 

***** discover)' and first scitlcmc-ni of Roanoke Island in 
the days of Elizabeth of Eni^dand, nearly three cen- 
turies before. Sir Walter Ralei^di visited the Island 
and attempted the foundation of a colony which 
proved a failure. After so lonj^^ a time its romantic 
histor)- was now supi)lemented by the remarkable 
events of the last few days. 

"< >ne mornini; I obtainetl a pass, antl starlctl aljoiit 
., ..Jock for a lon«r stroll, intendinj^^ to hunt up the 
wounded of Company A. Makinjr my way at t)nce 
lo Fort Hui^er, and followinj^ aloni^ the coast of the 
Island to lort Blanchard. I noticed a boat-load of 
Zouaves bound in the same direction as myself; and 
presently a hail came: 'Hallo, there; what rei^i- 
ment?' 'Twenty-fifth Massachusetts,' I replied. 
This answer brouj^ht the boat to me with the wel- 
come, 'Come aboard' ; and we were soon at their 
(juarters, which proved to be on one of the old canal 
IxJats we had toweil around Caj)e Hatteras. It was 
Comj^any K. Hawkins Zouaves, into whose hands I 
had fallen, and a brij^dit, jolly set of fellows they 
wer«-. In \ain I pleaded a lon^,^ tramjj before \wv.\ 
I must stop to dinn(rr, and I did. Tiicse men were 
all cjuile younj^, ami wt-nr completely bound up in 



i862. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 93 

their reg^Inicnt. Its singular dress they claimed was 
the most comfortable for a soldier — the red cap, 
loose jacket and baggy trousers. Their orderly was 
of Scotch descent, named Donaldson, and he was 
quite enthusiastic over Massachusetts soldiers. He 
said the Zouave uniform seemed whimsical, and it 
was so regarded ; but men will do a great deal for a 
whim. These men with their showy uniforms ap- 
peared well pleased with their officers, and seemed 
very intelligent and contented. 

" I left the Zou-zous with regret, and hurried on to 
the house we surrounded when we first landed. 
This was used now as a hospital, and on going up 
stairs I found only one of Company A — Charley 

^ ^ ■' Charity 

Bartlett. He was feeling badly ; his right arm — the Banictt. 
w^ounded one — was bandaged, and he was suffer- 
ing a great deal from it. I cheered him up, told 
him all the news, and he said if he could only have 
his knapsack and be with the other wounded A boys 
he would be all right. I promised him this, and 
bade him goodbye. 

" I learned that most of the wounded had been 
placed on steamers and nearly all would be sent 
home. I found no more A boys. Near the house 
were many graves of the Union dead, each having 



94 The Story of Compatty A. 

a lK)artl at ihc head. Some were marked with 

name, regiment, etc.; others "supposed to be" such 
a one: and several were marked "unknown." This, 
then, was the end — an unknown j^rave. This is the 
dark side of a soldier's hfe — woumls, suffering, death 
anti a nameless grave. 

" I'Vom the hosjjital my next point was the battery 
where the fight took place. .\ few sokliers were on 
duty there ; and men from various regiments were 
pointing out places occupietl by them during the 
action, S(|uads of soKliers were eagt^ly hunting 
for (of course) something tt) eat, making sjjecial 
efforts to capture North Carolina hogs, which to a 

llmmhnc rather limited e.xtent were fouml on the Islanel. An 
occasional squeal in llu: tiistance denoted a capture ; 
and the imlications were that within a short time 
ver)' little "pork" wouK! be found running around 
loose on Roanoke Islaml. I reached the barracks 
about dark, hungry, to be sure, and (|uite ready to 
partake of a meal of North Can^lina hog ami sweet 
potatoes." 

March j\\\\ wv. had comi)any drill for iIk- first time 
since leaving AnnajKjlis, save one or two atti-mpts to 
drill on the Nau York. While drilling we noticed 
robins, bluebirds and sjxarrows in abumlance. These 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 95 
birds stay in this locality all winter, which proves 



that the season cannot be very severe. 

The soldiers got the idea of making briar wood 
pipes while we were at Roanoke, and some were p^.^^^^ 
very curious affairs. The roots grew in all sorts of '^^o"'^- 
fantastic shapes, and with a deal of skill and patience 
the boys made very handsome pipes for friends at 
home. 

Orders came at last for all the wounded to be 
sent on board the steamers for home, so they were 
all transferred accordingly, and we wished them 
good luck on their departure. 

" I went one day to the hospital, a rough build- 
ing erected for that purpose, to see Corporal Horace 
Brooks of our company. He was wounded in the 
foot, and lay on his cot looking quite comfortable, 
and talked very cheerfully. He said there were 
three men near him in the hospital who had but two 
legs among them. One had none, and two had lost sinc-niar 
one each ; and a singular fact was that the one who ^^^^• 
lost both legs was doing well, while another who 
lost only a finger had brain fever set in and died. 
So it Q-oes." 

March 6th we went on board the "Old Wheel- 
barrow" or stern-wheel steamer (Union), and were 
13 



96 Tfu Story of Company A. 



1863. 



taken to the Xeio York, where we occupied our old 
quarters again, the sergeants taking the same little 
state room as before, which was quite by itself and 
was reached from the outsitle. It seemed like get- 
ting home to be in our olil bunks again. 

On the 7th we had a regular oKl lialteras gale, 
a gentle remintler of what hail been and might be 
again. On the 9lh it cleared away and we had a 
a most delightful day of it. Through the winter at 
1 lalleras it is safe to calculate on two storms a week, 
and not of the gentle sort, but regular tearers. 

• it is strange how things are mixed in this soldier 
life of ours. Now ever)thing seems like peace — 
waters {|uiet, boats gliding about in all directions, 
anti shouts of laughter from all the vessels in our 
vicinity. Rumor has it iIku wc are ow the eve of 
another battle." 



NOTB. The Captain Cole iiK'niioncd on page 78, is said to 
have iK'cn an officer in the famous Richinoml IMues, one of the 
must aristfM >■"'< ' '•inpanies in \'irj;inia. 



CHAPTER VI. 



THE CAPTURE OF NEW BERNE. 



On the 
move. 



jV/fARCH nth we were ordered to move, but had 

some trouble on account of the four or five ^^^^* 
schooners we were to tow. When we got fairly 
under way we run aground, and the soldiers were 
obliged to go on board small steamers to lighten up 
the New York, and the tugs had a hard time to pull 
her off. All this detained us five hours. Meantime 
one of the sailors fell overboard, which caused a 
ripple of excitement, but the man swam like a fish 
and was picked up all right by a small boat. 

The morning of March 12th found us at Hatteras 
near our old anchoring ground, but we started again, 
supposed to be bound for New Berne, ninety miles 
from Hatteras Inlet; and had a delightful day's sail, 
reaching the mouth of the Neuse River about 4 p. m., 
and found the rest of the fleet ready and waiting. 



98 The Story of Company A. 

\Vc steamed slowly but boldly up the ri\cT, passing; 

but few houses scattered alon^ on ciilur side ; and 
noticed that the country was well wooded, and ap- 

ttnxr. parently more uneven than the section wc liad Iclt. 
We anch(»red about 8 in the evening at a jjlace 
called Slocum's Creek. WC had seen during the 
day tall columns of dark smoke in different direc- 
tions, thouj^ht by some to be signals gf our apj)roach. 
We dill not jjass a sin<^le stran^^e sail, notliin<^^ in 
fact save a small sail boat containinj^ two men, whicli 
was brouj^dit up rather suddenly by a solid shot 
from one of our gunboats. 

We had orders to land in lis^du marchinj^ order 
.IS at Roanoke. It was evident that \sv. had a bi^^i^er 

r.'f 

ktjtmgi, job on our hands than the affair on the Islaml ; ami 
"Old I'osey" consoled us with the prediction that 
some of us would lose the number of our mess 
before many hours. 

The Neuse River is a noble stream, between 
twi> and three miles wide at its moulh, aiiil navi- 
j^able for lar}.;e vessels ami steamers to Xt^w Heme. 
Slocum's Creek is sixteen or eij^dueen miles l)elow 
New lierne, and about the same distance from the 
mouth of the Neuse. 



2Sth RegL, Mass. Vols. 99 

The night passed quietly away. Going- on deck 



about midnight the scene was an impressive one. 
A silence almost oppressive rested over Burnside's 
fleet ; no lights were visible anywhere, but the forms ^z^-^^,-^^^ 
of the vessels were plainly to be seen, and the shore ^"f'^- 
on either side of the river, bordered with forest 
trees, lay dark and silent under the dim starlight. 
On the morning of March 13th, after the woods 
had been shelled by the gunboats, the troops landed 
in much the same way as at Roanoke. Lines of 
boats were drawn as near the shore as possible by 
light-draft steamers ; the boats were then separated 
and made for the shore. It was a singularly beautiful 
sight ; the boats were crowded with men "Wearing 
the Blue," and their bayonets glistened as if tipped 
with sparks of sunshine. There was the same strife ' , " 

^ of the 

as at Roanoke as to who should land first ; but here troops. 
parts of several companies were landing at the same 
time, Company A among the first ; and many jumped 
out of the boats and waded ashore. If it was a 
mistake on the Rebels' part in allowing us to land 
on Roanoke Island, here was another one. We all 
landed, and not an opposing shot was fired. Com- 
pany A was formed quickly in the woods under live 
oak trees from whose branches hung long festoons 



lOO The Story of Company A. 

of j;ray moss which waved in the shj^ditcst breeze, 

* '* while vines had crept from tree to tree covering 
their lops completely. Hinls wtre twittering in the 
branches, ami we marched away from this delightful 
sjKJi with scarce a thought of the terrible scenes we 
might pass through in the next few hours. 

The Company was sent on alu-atl ; passing some 
log huts and seeing no people, we halted after 
tramping alxjut two miles. Soon a part of Reno's 
brigaile passed us, with the Twenty-first in advance. 
In a short time the Twenty-fifth came up, and we 
fell in and pushed on towards New Berne through 
pine forests. We jjassed large, rough buildings 
iliat hatl been used as barracks by llu: Ki.-bels. An 
«l//M-«r.old darky here told us the Rt-bels "run like jingo 
when dey knowed de \'anks was comin." It had 
been a cavalr)' station, and their scouts had seen us 
land, and had given the alarm, when the whole 
crowd left for New Berne, anti in such a hurry that 
their saiKlles, bridles and other ecjuipments lay scat- 
tered around in great confusion. They left their 
tables staniling with breakfast scarcely touched. 
We stopped but a fcrw minutes, but long enough 
for some of us to prdiy nearly fuiish that breakfast. 
Of course we were hungry — it was certainly over 



2^tJi Rcji't., Mass. Vols. loi 
an hour since we had eaten 02ir breakfast — and sol- 

T Rfio 

diers are always hungry. It was here that McLane 
played a practical joke on some of us — oh Jemsy, 
how could you ! If I remember rightly the Captain 
was in the scrape. McLane came out of the barracks 
bringing a large tin dish filled with a dark brown 
substance, and cried out, ''Sugar, boys. Sugar!'' 
"Here, Jemsy, here," "This way, Jemsy" ; and a 

Salt for 

score of hands made a grab at the dish, a score of ^^^^^^^ 
mouths were filled with the — sucrar? No ! It was 
salt, and villainous, dirty salt at that. What a spitting, 
sputtering, cursing was there ! We marched on 
amid the shouts of those who had not tasted the 
sugar, and the curses — not loud but deep — of those 
who had. 

And now it came on to rain, and shortly the roads 
were heavy with mud. The marching became 
harder every hour, still there was no grumbling ; 
and when Gen. Foster rode alonor and announced 

^ Hard 

(false rumor by the way) that the Army of \}^^ viarching. 
Potomac had advanced, and that Manassas was 
taken, the air rune: with the shouts of the soldiers. 
Soon we had a report from the advance that a large 
earthwork directly across the road we were travel- 
ing had been evacuated by the enemy. This bit of 



I02 The Story of Company A. 

news was also received with the greatest enthusiasm, 

* '* and served to keep our spirits up for the remainder 
of the day. W t" soon came in sight of tlie deserted 
l>aller)', and wrre struck with its ajipearance. It 
wxs built at the jjoint where the roatl we were 
iravehng crosseil the railroad to New Berne, and 
commanded both railroad and turnpike. It was in- 
tended for three heavy guns when completed. Ihe 
earthworks extended frtjni this |>oint to the Xcusc 
River on oim" right, and a good distance beyond 
the railroad on our left ; ami if these works hatl 
Ikhmi properly defended we should ha\L* had a deal 
of trouble in getting through them. 

We pushed forwartl through nun! ami rain, with 
frequent halts for a few minutes rest ; and at dark 
turned into the woods on the right of the road for a 
cheerless bivouac in the wet. It is not a jilcasant 
thing to contemj»late — a bivouac in a heavy rain on 
•ground already soaked w ith water — for it had rained 
, , steadily for hours and there was now no cessation; 
but here was the place for us to stop, so there was 
nothing to be saitl about it. In spite of the rain we 
soon had fires started, ami our coffee cooking. 
Haversacks were openeil, ami thir everlasting "salt 
horse" anil hard-tack brought forth : ami tiicsc with 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 103 

our tin (quart) cups full of piping hot coffee sweet- 

ened just right, made us, considering all things, a 
good supper. 

Now we looked around for some place to turn in. 
It was amusing to see the different ways the boys 
took to provide sleeping places. One man who 
had found two rough logs, rolled them close to- 
gether and went to sleep on top of them, with his 
rubber blanket over him. Three or four were sitting 
upright together with their backs against a large 
tree, and their rubber blankets drawn over their 
heads. Others cut brush and small limbs of trees . ,, 

tn (he wet. 

to sleep on — anything to keep them out of the wet. 
Some, by fastening two rubber blankets together 
and stretching them between trees with slant or 
pitch enough to shed the water, obtained a good 
shelter, large enough for four or more to lie under, 
while two more rubber blankets kept them from the 
wet ground. These blankets measured eight feet 
by four, and had eyelet holes all round the edge, 
being easily fastened together by strings ; and it 
was by using them somewhat as described that the 
boys got the greatest benefit from them. 

Soldiers choose their tent-mates, and chum to- 
gether at every bivouac while on a march ; for 
14 



I04 The Siory of Company A. 

instance, the officers messed together in camp and 

bivouac, the serjjeanls usually did the same, antl 
the company was divided into squads of lour or 
more, who were always found to^^ether in lillle 
families, so to speak. On this nij^ht the Sergeants 
had made a shelter, a sort of tent of rubber blan- 
kets. I Living started with three days' rations we 
had enough to eat : antl when "Jemsy" produced 
a candle and placed it in the vw<\ of a bayonet which 
he stuck in the ground inside, we felt more com- 
fortable, for we could see just how wretched and 
miserable we were. 

Scouting parties were sent out in tlifferent direc- 
tions during the night, and guards postcnl ; but those 
of us off duty managed to get some sleep, wet 
through as we were, overcoats and all. 

We will look now at the defenses of X( \v nirnc. 
We had passed without hindrance through the first 
line of works, and a strong one it was too ; and we 
had reason to sui^pose we were near the second 
dtftuuu ^>'^*-*« »**♦ inileed we were (within half a mile). This 
seconti line was perhaps ten miles or more from the 
place of landing, antl |)erhaps six miles from New 
Berne. It consisted of earthworks — regular inlrcnch- 
ments^-extending from the River Neuse lo \\\v. 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 105 

railroad, a distance of a mile ; and beyond the rail- 

road a long line of rifle pits extended half a mile ^^^^' 
further, ending with a two-gim battery on the edge 
of a large swamp. The works as far as the railroad 
were protected with a deep ditch in front, about ten 
feet wide and six feet deep. At the river on the 
enemy's left, was Fort Thompson mounting thirteen 
guns, some pivot that could be fired in any direction. 
This fort had a bomb proof, was very strong, and 
certainly a bad thing to approach. Three guns 
could sweep the field in front of the intrenchments, '^'"■' ^''^"'^ 

defenses. 

and ten guns commanded the river. The Neuse 
was blockaded by twenty or more sunken ships, a 
row of piles, and any number of torpedoes. Above 
Fort Thompson, on the river towards New Berne, 
was a battery of eight guns, and beyond this another 
of four guns, besides one or two smaller works not 
completed. The county road we tramped to this 
place passed through these fortifications about mid- 
way between the river and the railroad ; and at this 
point was a sort of lunette mounting three guns 
that commanded the road and every approach 
thereto. The entire line of works was thoroughly 
built, in perfect order, and the position was an ex- 
ceedingly strong one. To defend these works the 



io6 The Story of Company A. 

enemy had some nine thousand men, inckidinir five 



i86a. 

hundred cavalr)", with over thirty pieces of artillery. 

To attack and ca|jture this position Burnside had 
about nine thousand men, aiul at tht* most, eight 
or ten small howitzers. lUii he had the i^unboats 
also, which, as we shall see, did their part in the 
battle. The Rebels had prejjared a large raft Kxided 
with cotton, tar, turpentine and other combustibles, 
Which was to be set on fire and floated down the 
river, and of course w(niKl tlestroy the Yankee i^iin- 
boats— only it didn't. The wind blew the wrong 
way and it floated up against the wharf and set ii on 
fire, and did no harm whatever to the fleet. 

It was a long night, that niglu Ijcfore the Battle 
of New Berne, but like all other things ii had an 
end. The earliest daylight of the 14th found us 
astir, crawling around like so many half-drowned 
(lies, — cold, wet, stiff, sore and hungry ; but by 
moving quickly, many of us managed to get some- 
thing to eat anil the "cuj) of coffee," before the ex- 
pected order "I'all in" was heanl. The order was 
not long delayed, and we were once more on the 
Of^mimg road. W'e had marcheil but a short distance, per- 
*^ **' haps a (luarter of a mile, when l"irin</ was heard 
ahead, which told us that the battle had ojicncd. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. \o\ 

The Twenty-fifth filed into the woods on the right 



of the road, and with the rest of the brig-ade formed 

March 14 

in fine of battle, and pressed forward slowly. Com- 
pany A having the right of the regiment, which had 
the right of the brigade, We very soon found our- 
selves at the edge of a clearing beyond which, at 
about three hundred yards distance, were the Rebel 
earthworks extending as far as we could see, right 
and left. While here Sergeant Putnam was sent 
out with one man (Corporal Jaalam Gates, after- 
wards a captain in U. S. colored troops) to recon- j^^^^^, ^j- 
noiter, with orders not to fire, but as quietly as ^'^ 
possible see what could be made out of the situation. 
They plunged at once into the woods and made 
their way towards the river. They observed the 
Rebel earthworks, and at last came in sight of Fort 
Thompson, with its guns in position to sweep the 
whole clearinor in front of the fortifications. Makingf 
what observations they could, they were about to 
return when a Rebel was discovered standing on a 
stump, hand over his face to shade his eyes, and his 
rifie in the other hand. He had evidently seen our 
troops, for his eyes were riveted upon the spot they 
occupied. "I say. Sergeant," said the Corporal, 
"that's about a hundred yards ; I can pop that fellow 



loS The Story of Company A. 

as I would a turkey," and he raised his rille to do 



it : but the orders were not to fire, so they returned 

March 14 

to the regiment and reported. 

Meantime Hne of battle had been formed in the 
edj^e of the woods, with llie enemy's intrenchments 
close at haml and in plain sis^du. the Twenty-fifth 
Rej^iment on tlu* extreme ri<^dit. We now heard 
loud cheerinj,' on the left, and knew the Twenty-first 
was eni^aj^eil. We here received the enemy's fire 
from the front anti from I'ort Thompson on the rij^ht, 
several of the reiriment bcint; wounded at the first 
iswirtr^/firc from the fort. Our gunboats, too, having as- 
^^'^ ccnded th(r river thus far, were ihrowinLj shells over 
our heads, which fell short of the Rebel earthworks 
and burst direct!)- in our front, fairly shakini; the 
earth, throwing uj) columns of dirt, and tearing 
great holes in the ground at every explosion. Thi* 
position was a l)ad one, and we wert." soon with- 
drawn and i)laced further to the left. 

The fight was now raging furiously all along the 
line. We |)assed our howitzer battery of four guns ; 
here the fight had been severe, and in all directions 
lay the dead and wounded of the batter)'. Bullets 
were Hying arounil thick, ami solid shot came crash- 
ing through tin- incs. The excitem<MU at this iim(? 



2§th Rci^t., Mass. Vols. 109 

was very great, — firing along the whole line, and 

loud cheerine;" away down the left where the rallant ^ ^' 

'^ ^ March 14 

Twenty-first had made a charge, entered the enemy's 
works and were driven out, but had re-formed, 
charged and entered the works again, this time to 
stay. We, also, were ordered to charge, and with a 
wild hurrah we started at double-quick, and in about 
as short a time as it takes to write it, our boys were 
swarming over the Rebel works like bees ; and the Batik of 
colors of the Twenty-fifth were planted in the bat- ^''"^ 
tery. It was claimed that our state colors were 
the first that floated over the enemy's intrench- 
ments. The distance where the charge was made 
between the woods and the earthworks was about 
two hundred yards ; and we had but just started 
when a solid shot — evidently from Fort Thompson 
— came tearing along, struck a tree on our right, 
glanced, and going through the ranks of Company 
A, killed comrade Eli Pike. The shot struck him 
in the side and mano-led him shockinelv- We could 

^ ^ ^ Death of 

not stop; one glance, as we passed over him — 2i eh Pike. 
quivering, bleeding mass of humanity — was the last 
we saw of Eli Pike, the first of Company A to die 
on the battle field. 



I lo The Story of Company A. 

It was a horrible sight as we entered the enemy's 



works — dead and dvinij men, dead and dyine horses, 

March 14 7 fc. • / b » 

in ever)" conceivable position, some alone, others in 
little heaps of two or three, all smeared with blood 
'*'*^**''/ and begrimed with powder aiu! ilirl. Many, per- 
l^ haps most, of the Rebels, were shot in the head. We 
noticed a dead Rebel soldier, seated on a log, his 
rille beside him, and his back supported against a 
tree. He had been shot in the act of eating a piece 
of bread ; the mouthful bitten off remained between 
his teeth, while the right hand still holding the loaf 
was raised to his lips. Death had come like a flash, 
and his limbs were rigit! in an instant. This was a 
very singular case. 

The enemy were now in full retreat towards Xew 

Berne, a portion of (Mie regiment marching off in 

'"^'"'"■^pfood order, with colors flyinir; but the road, as was 

Ik* tmtmy. ^ J ^ 

the case at Roanoke, was strewn with guns and 
equij)ments thrown away in the hasty flight. Our 
regiment formed soon after, and Company A was 
sent to skirmish through the woods towards the 
railroad, which we did. ca|)turing many prisoners, 
then following llu- railroad towards New Berne, 
where were crowils of Ri'bels flying to the city. 



, V . 5 «» >o I y yj n ■ •« < 7 I 

■ '^'■■■"/t ■ I fc ^ 5 Q- 'J lT -r ; - -^ '^ •■ f 

■;:V.V~; I s S £ i u > < I-; t T 



m * fe CD -{i- \l'^ 1 
o :> -Ik "2 * - 







s^ 



i- 









-:;-^::i^^,x_ 






-■-;1 




r.^^^ _:.^.JJ 



2^th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 1 1 1 

On either side were seen many of the enemy making 

sicrns which indicated their desire to surrender. 

Gen. Foster on horseback rode along with Com- 
pany A as we pushed on towards the town. We 
soon noticed a huge column of black smoke rising 
high over New Berne, and saw at once that the 
Rebels had set the city on fire — a Moscow on a 
small scale ! We soon reached the Trent River, 
and found the railroad bridge, some fifteen hundred 
feet long, in flames and rapidly going to destruction. 
We stopped but a short time on the banks of the 
Trent, and then crossed over in small steamers and ' 
took possession of the town. The gunboats all this Berne. 
time had been fighting their way up the river, reach- 
ing the town before the troops, and were assisting 
in putting out the fires. 

So ended the Battle of New Berne, with a loss to 
the Twent}--fifth Regiment of t\vent}-six killed and 
wounded. Our Company had one man killed. The 
total Union loss was one hundred killed and about 
five hundred wounded. We captured several hun- 
dred prisoners, thousands of muskets, thirt)- pieces 
of artiller}', and a large quantit)- of ammunition. The 
Rebel loss in killed and wounded is not known, but 
probably it was less than ours. 



i863. 



CHAPll.R \ II. 

Ni:\V Iir.RNK AND CAMP oI.lVlCK. 

"rill-: lU'Il.niXCi in W-w Wvmc occupied by 
Company A was known as ilu- McTchants' Hank, 
and was located on Craven street. Tiie tloor was 
locked, but the axes of the pioneers hatl opened it, 
and we were at once in comfortable (juarters. The 
buildinj; had been cleaned out, but we had a nice 
shelter, and it was a strikinj^ contrast to the last few 
ila)s, — one nij^ht we bivouac in tlu: woods in muil 
anil rain, llu: lu-xt we arc in a brick house in town, 
slccpin)^ on mattresses ^f^rn^rtw/ from the neii^hbors. 
This is the ebb and llow of a soldier's life — famine 
one day, feast the next. 

Tired out as \\c. were with the work ol llic last 
few days, we were j^lad of a chance to rest. Ihis 
battle of New Heme was fouj^dit on I'riday. We 
also landeil at Roanoke on a I'riday — unlucky ilays 
for somebody, but not for us. 



2^fh Rcof., Mass. Vols. ii, 



1862. 



"Saturday morning found us all right, and after 
breakfast there was a general scouting around for 
— of course — something to eat ; and the result of 
this still hunting was a dinner — shall I describe it? 
Turkeys, two kinds, boiled and stewed ; hot biscuit 
and butter ; and — tell it not — syrup, preserved 
peaches and honey. How did we do it ? The boys 
of Company A were always in luck. We found one 
room in the bank buildin"" which was locked; we "'J"^ 

"^ dinner. 

opened it, and found it was the store-room of the 
family that had resided in the building. Here were 
all sorts of preserved fruit in goodly quantities, — 
peaches, tamarinds, berries, etc. ; and the "scouts" 
brought in butter, flour, turkeys, and a solitary 
chicken." 

We enjoyed now, for a short time, the poetry of 
soldiering, — comfortable quarters and duty light. 
It seemed strange to wander about the streets of 
the captured city ; all was new to northern eyes. 
Most of the houses were abandoned, but some were 
left with the oldest slaves, while the younger and 
most valuable ones had been taken away. Streets 
deserted and silent, save when the stillness was 
broken by the tramp of the soldier, the citizens — 
those who remained — keeping inside their houses. 



1 1 4 The Story of Company A. 

Black faces |x.*ered at us from all quarters, and pieces 

* of while cloth waved from ever)' corner and NcL;ro 
shanty. The slaves did not ajipear to be afraid of 
the soldiers, although they hail been taught to fear 



'ITie soldiers and sailors hat! free run in New 
Ik-rne for the first twenty-four hours, and then the 
j>lace settled down in peace and quiet under military 
rule. Of course there was more or less pillaging. 
but little harm was done ; intleed the Union soldiers 
saved the place from destruction by fire at the hands 
of its citizens and the Rebel soldiery. The people 
left New Berne in a perfect i)anic. antl the streets 
'^"""^and roatls were covered with all sorts of property — 
household goods, clothing, wagons, aiul such like. 
A beautiful piano was found in one street, and soon 
after it might have been seen in the soldiers' quar- 
ters, the tfiusic taken out. antl horses feeding from 
the case. 

*' I noticed a |)leasant-looking house one day when 
on guard, and found it no exception to the general 
rule — it was deserted, and nearly ever)'thing of value 
had been carried away. There were several horses 
in lh<' stable ami cows in iIk! field. .\ K-w slaves 
stoml around looking in stupiil woiuicr at the strange 



i862. 



25th Regf., Mass. Vols. 1 15 

visitors. 'Massa's goned away,' they said. I went 
over the house ; a piano with a pile of sheet music, 
a poodle dog", a cage of canaries, and a large cat, 
indicated refinement and taste ; but now desolation 
had swept over everything. On the opposite side 
of the road was a large vineyard ; a few weeks later 
Fort Totten had sprung up there and the vineyard 
had disappeared. It would have been wiser for the 
owners to have stayed on the premises and taken 
the oath of allegiance, for then they would have 
been protected ; but this shows how great was their 
fright." 

Negroes began to come in from the country' 
around, some from Goldsboro,' who reported no for- ^^'^^'^"• 
tifications between that place and New Berne ; but 
"dey is makin some." It would seem that then was 
the time to have cleaned out the enemy as far as 
Goldsboro.' 

The Rebels were very thoughtful in one way cer- 
tainly, for they had a train of cars all ready in case 
of disaster to their army, and it worked very nicely 
for them, for the train went through New Berne 
in a hurry, crowded with soldiers skedaddling from 
the Boys in Blue. 



1 1 6 Tht Story of Company A. 

Guard thily was about all there was for us to tU) 

1863 

for awhile ; ortlers were very strict, and after a cer- 
tain hour at nij^ht all persons found without passes 
were to be arrested, so it made a deal of work. One 
nij^hl three or four sailors were brouj^ht into the 
j^uard-house ilrunk, one nearly insensible. This one 
died Ix-'fore mornini; in consequence of his debauch. 
We saw here for the first time women and chil- 
dren practicinj^ the tlisj^ustinj^ habit of snuff dipping. 
A small stick was dipped into a snuff box and the 

^^ end is then rubbed over the teeth and j^ums, talkinj^ 
while the operation is i^^oinj^^ on, the stick protruding 
from the mouth. 

".\ visit to the battle grountl gave us a better 
idea of the strength of the fortifications, and of tin; 
work performeil in llu: late battle. There were over 
twenty vessels in the blockade, mostly schooners 
and Ijrigs, and some ajjpeared to be new. Mount- 
ing the breastwork we walked from I'ort Thomjjson 

rrtmmJ O" ^'*'*-* ^»^u^*-* I^iver to the railroad, a distance of 
one and a half miles without a break, save where 
the county road passed through. The position was 
a very strong one, and uj)on first thought it seems 
as if it could have been held ; but the gunboats 
settleil the mattrr by breaking tin- blockaile, ami 



2sth Re of. , Mass. Vols. 1 1 7 

flanking the enemy's works, furnishing material aid 

in the capture of New Berne." ^ ^' 

March 25th, our buikUng being wanted for a hos- 
pital, our officers selected for company quarters 
another brick house on Johnston street, furnished 
with marble chimney pieces, mirrors, and a clock, 
and surrounded with a large garden, with flowers 
and peach trees in bloom. It was in a fine neighbor- 
hood, quiet and retired — who wouldn't be a soger! 
We found an old cooking stove in the cellar, and 
set it up. Warm biscuit, baked beans, etc. followed. 
Company A was always in luck. 

Sunday, March 30th, the whole regiment turned 
out and marched to church. It was a curious sio-ht 
— pews filled with Blue Coats and glittering bay- 
onets, six soldiers and six rifles to a pew, darkies 
peering in at doors and windows, the star spangled 
banner in one corner, while Chaplain James in the 
pulpit completed the picture. 

At this time troops were coming into New Berne 
in large numbers, and camps were forming all about. 
The Twenty-fifth Regiment had been the first to 
enter the city, headed by Company A. 

The city of New Berne is situated at the junction 
of the Neuse and Trent rivers, and is prettily laid 



1 1 8 The Story of Company A. 

oui. with streets straight and wide and completely 

* ^" shailcd with lari^'e trees. The j^ardens of New Ik'rne, 
when |>ro|)erly cared for. must have made ilu- place 
an earthly paradise. An entllcss variety of flowers 
could be found here, ami the floral procession con- 
tinued, seeminj^dy. all thronj^h the year. Heaiiiifiil 

t^mhci. birds made music amonjj the trees, ami at nij,du the 
mockinij bird tuned his varii-d lays. Nature had 
scattereil here her benefits in lavish profusion, ami 
jjrim war with all its terrors could not neutralize her 
power. The city contained about twelve hundred 
white inhabitants at the time of its capture. 

In ilu.' lalt«T i)arl of Marcli. Major McCafferty 
resigned, and our Captain was j)r()nioti.'cl lo Ix* 
Major of the Regiment, birst LicutciKint bVaiik !•'. 
(ioodwin being advanced to the command of the 

t,.m,r; Q,„,p.^py i,^ conseciuence of this change Com- 
A'/yi**.-!*/. I^any A became the eighth in lint', insteatl of hold- 
ing the rii^ht of the Regiment, a j)osition we had 
Ijeen proud of. It was rather disheartening. Offi- 
cers go up, comj)anies go down — in rank. \\\* 
talked the matter over in our (piarlers. 1 latl not he 
led us in two victories? I lad not we achiexc-d honor 
and a name under his commaml ? So we conchuleil 
to promote him — our pony Captain — to be Major; 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 119 

but the trouble did not end here, for in October 

following Lieutenant-Colonel Sprague resigned, and 
soon after Colonel Upton did likewise, which left 
Major Pickett in command of the Twenty-fifth Reg- 

Colonel 

iment as Colonel. So we promoted him again, and pukett. 
we thought the eao^les looked better on his shoulders 
than the captain's bars. Nor was this all ; at his 
muster-out, in January, 1865, he was breveted Brig- 
adier-General ; and although Company A was mus- 
tered out the preceding October, still we rejoiced 
at his promotion. 

On the 9th of May the Regiment left New Berne 
and went on picket duty at the Red House, a place 
we became very familiar with, as well as with Old 
Bogey, the owner, before we left New Berne. This 
place was about nine miles from New Berne, and 
half-way between the Neuse and Trent rivers. 

By noon the Regiment was on the ground, and 
Camp Bullock was formed, named in honor of Hon. 
Alexander H. Bullock, of Worcester, Mass. Here Camp 
Sibley tents took the place of our old A tents. On 
the 13th, a scouting party under Col. Upton, visited 
the place called Tuscarora, four or five miles distant. 
The enemy had an outpost here, and they fled on 
16 



Bullock. 



1 20 The Story of Company A. 



1863. 



OltVfr. 



our approach, setting fire to a mill before they tie- 
parted. The expedition was t>f no "^reat account, 
'xcepi in givinj^ us experience in the sort ol work 
!iouItl have to do in North Carolina. 

On the 15th of Ma\ tlu- Regiment left Camp 
Bullock, and marched towards Trenton. We had 
with us the Seventeenth .Massachusetts, some of the 
Thin! New N'ork Cavalr)' (seven companies), and 
the Third Rluule Island Artillery. The cavalry had 
all the fighting, losing two men and killing eight or 
ten of the enemy, while the infantry marched there 
and back, twenty-five miles, without firing a shot. 

Denn\'. in his "XW-aring the Bkic." relates the 
comical stor)- of Bogey's okl white mare alarming 
the pickets. The plantation of Mr. Bogey was sur- 
rounded In woods, and contained perhaps iwcnt)' 
acres, h was situated at the cross roatls, one lead- 
ing to New Berne, one to Tuscarora. aiid one to 
Bachellor's Creek. 

On the 25th of .May the Regiment left the Red 
1 louse and marched back to New Berne, where 
Camp Oliver was formc-d. supposed to be named in 
honor of Gen. II. K. Oliver. Adjulnnt CcinTal of 
Massachusetts. 



25th Rcf^t., Mass. Vols, 121 
The extensive pine forests which cover a great 



part of eastern North Carolina, furnished the prin- ^ 
cipal supply of the tar, turpentine and rosin of com- 
merce. The forests are almost entirely destitute of 
birds, and in their depths the stillness is actually 
oppressive ; and so dense is their growth that the 
rays of the sun, even at noonday, can scarcely pen- J'^J^ 
etrate the sombre shade. A pine forest is a lonely 
world at its best ; it lacks entirely the characteristics 
of other forests, — the variety of leaves, the fragrant 
undergrowth of bush and shrub, the different forms 
of the trees — all these are wanting. It is monoto- 
nous and the eye tires of it. It has not the cheer- 
ful look of other forests ; and while the wind rustles 
merrily among other trees, it moans and sighs 
through the pines. It affected the spirits of the 
men in marching through them ; lively and gay 
as the boys usually were, they soon became sober 
and quieted down very much while passing through 
these dismal shades. 

The weather through the month of June was very 
warm, but the 4th of July was cool and comfortable. 
We had an eloquent oration delivered in a church ^ , 

1 July 4lh. 

by Chaplain Horace James. He compared the 
Rebellion of '76 with that of '61. At night we had 



122 The Story of Company . /. 

a bie bonfire in our camp, and all the regimental 

1869 

banils united j;ave us music. The usual salutes were 

fired morninj^ and evening. So passetl our 41I1 of 
July. 

July 25th an expedition was made to Trenton 
again, the Twenty-fifth and Twenty-seventh Massa- 
/i-jw. chusetts with Helper's Rhode Islantl Battery com- 
|x>sing the detachment. We returned to New Berne 
the next tlay. .August 6th, another expedition went 
out from \«w Berne on a scout, and returned on 
the 7th. 

The latter part <>f .August our Regimental Band 
was discharged. This was regretted b) all. We had 
the best band in the department, antl the loss was 
felt by the whole body of troops in .New Berne. 
I'Vom this time the Regiment had drums aiul fifes 
only. 

Thus life in \< \v Berne glided away, and the 
summer of 1S62 passed (juickly and pleasantly. 
So far the health of the Company had been good, 
though many of the boys had been troubled with 
chills and fever; but no malady of a serious nature 
had aj)peared. Recruits had been coming in to the 
Regiment, and Com|)any .\ hail received its share 
of first rate men, and we were glad to see them. 



! Ml 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 123 
We had fruit in abundance at New Berne — figs, 

T Rf^O 

persimmons, grapes, melons, etc. — all good ; apples, 
too, but none like those of New England. Sweet 
potatoes were abundant. 

At the rear of Camp Oliver was a large swamp in 
which was a considerable body of water. There 
were a few trees growing there. It was a pleasant 
sight to see wild ducks swimming about in this 

. Novel 

swamp so near us. One mornmg we saw eleven si^-ius. 
white cranes on one tree, presenting a very curious 
sight. No one was allowed to fire at them, and 
they appeared as unconcerned as if they were in the 
wilderness. 

David Bigelow and Charley Bartlett, wounded at 
Roanoke, had returned to the Company, and were 
now on duty as usual. 

August 20th found Company A on picket at the 
so called Harrison House, some four or five miles 
from New Berne. We were accompanied by Com- 
pany C. The camp here was known as Camp Inge. 
Life on picket was vastly more pleasant than the ^''^^^'^ 
ordinary round of camp duty — there was more free- 
dom and less irksome (though necessary) drill, with 
just danger enough to give a sort of fascination to 
it, and keep the boys wide awake. The picket camp 



124 ^'''^ Story of Company A. 



iS6>. 



dtUy. 



was al>out half a mile in the rear of the picket lines, 
ami was fixed up as comfortable as could be. The 
boys maile tables, stools, and bouj^h houses, aiul 
built ovens ; washetl iluir clothes and did their 
mending: read, wrote, smoked, played cards, etc.; 
l)Ul were ready for a "I'all in. A" at any moment. 
I he picket j^uartl was relieved every morninj^ from 
the camp. Unless there was dantjer in so doinj,', 
the l)oys on picket duty built fire enoui^di to cook 
their coffee and make themselves comfortable, a con- 
stant vijt^nlance of course beinjj kej)! up. (Generally 
there were three nu.-n on each post, aiul one con- 
stantly on j^uaril. As ni«;ht comes on no tires are 
alloweil, and when darkness covers the scene the 
objects so familiar Ijy daylit^dit assume a different 
look — as one of the boys expressed it : "The stumps 
begin to walk, and everything moves." The soldier 
on his lonely post will be startled by sounds he 
wouKl not notice by daylight — the snapping ol a 
twig near him. or the tread of some wikl animal, 
will keep him wide awake ; and often, when no wind 
is stirring, a tree will fall with a tremendous crash 
that will awaken lh(! echoes of the forest. Again. 
the wind rises, and the woods so still before are 
now filhnl with nc-w aiul strange sounds; or perhai)s 



i862. 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 125 

a storm comes on, and with getting chilled and 
drenched with rain, the night drags slowly away; 
but morning comes at last, and with it the ever wel- 
come relief. 

The picket line extended from the Neiise to the 
Trent rivers, and all were anxious to be "out on 
picket." It was when on such duty that Charley 
Knowlton caught the deer. Charley had heard the 
darkies say they had "seen deer run in dese ere 
woods"; and at once visions of venison steak flitted 

, . . . . , , . , Kno7vllon 

across his imagination, and he soon, with some as- 

«=• and Ins 

sistance, slyly dug a pit in the path in which the deer pit. 
deer were supposed to run, and carefully covered it. 
For several days nothing disturbed the pit, but o^ie 
morning early he found the game was caught, but 
it was a poor, sick cavalry horse. There he was, 
sticking his nose out of the pit. What was to be 
done ? — they could not get him out, and it would 
not do to let him remain where he was. So Charley 
— full of expedients — shot the poor old horse, and 
buried him in the pit he had dug for the deer. There 
is more than one way — even out of a pit. 

One day while at Camp Inge a severe thunder 
storm came up ; the boys off duty were lying list- 
lessly in their tents, their rifles in a circle around 



1 26 The Story of Company A. 

each center pole. A sharp Hash of li*^htnin<j 

came with a loud clap of thunder, and struck in the 

amp, killing a horse, i'ari of the lK)lt went down 

tmtJemt, OHc of the tent poles, scattered the rifles in every 

direction, but did no harm to the boys in the tent. 

This was only an incident \\\ a soklier's lif6. 

Noon of Sej>tember 23rd ft)und Company A aj^ain 
at Camp Oliver. At iiii^du fires were built in the 
company streets — a sanitary measure — ami we 
turned in at "taps," tired, but a merry lot of soldiers. 

On the 24lh of Sej>tember Comrade Lucius V . 
Kinj^man died of diptheria after a few days' illness. 
lie was a noble fellow — kind hearted, pleasant, and 
a true soldier, lb- was burietl at .\cw Ikrne. 

Some months before, just alter the Battle ol 
Roanoke. Comrade Thomas Karle, .somewhat to the 
surj>rise of the other members, left the C()mi)any 
11 a furloui^^h. antl went back to Massachusetts ; and 
A''-^'^-« great was the astonishment when, atirr the Hallle 
of New Berne, he returned a Iwutcnan! \\\ the same 
company he had left thirty days before as a private 
soldier. It was rather sj^allins^ to the rest, but tjucir 
thinj^s hai>pen in the- army frecpiently. It would 
seem almost as a rule that commissions were not 
won in the fiekl. but oblaineil thn)u<;h influence 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 127 

at home. September i , Lieutenant Earle resigned 



— a privilege officers have ; privates, if I remember 
rightly, do not have that privilege — and this brought 
about other changes in the Company. "Old Posey" 
became Second Lieutenant, and Burr, or "Birdie" 
was made Orderly Sergeant, the vacancies in the 
Sergeants' ranks being filled by others. 

It may be well, in this place to give a list of the 
boys of "Old Company A" who received commis- 
sions. It will be seen that some were commissioned 
in other reeiments ; but, while we did not like to 
part with old faces, we rejoiced at the good fortune 
of those who obtained promotion, and we regarded 
it as additional honor to the Company. 



LIST OF PROMOTIONS OF CO. A MEN. 

Captain Josiah Pickett, to Maj. and Col. 25th ; 

Bv. Brig.-Gen. 
First Lieut. F. E. Goodwin, to Capt. 
Second Lieut. M. B. Bessey, to ist Lt. & Capt. 
Orderly Sergeant G. A. Johnson, to Second 

Lieut. 
Sergeant Geo. Burr, to First Lieut. 
Sergeant J. J. McLane, to Second Lieut, ist 

N. C. Union Vols. 
17 



Pro- 
motions. 



1 28 The Story of Company A. 



xb6a. 



•V.Vlt'Nf. 



C<>rj>oraI Jaalam Gates, to Capt. L'. S. Colored 

Troops. 
Cor|>oral John A. Chenery. i«) I'irst l.ltui and 

Adjutant, 1st N. C. Union Vols. 
Coqjoral Lewis J. Hlwell, to Ser<reant Major. 
Private Thomas Marie, to Second Lieut. 
Private James M. I lervey. to I'irst Lieut. N. C. 

Union \'ols. 
Private John L. Gootlwin. to 1st Lt.. 57ih Mass. 
Private C. L. Ilutchins. to Lieut. U. S. \'ols. 
Private .S. W. i'hilliijs. lo l-'irst Lieut. I'. .S. 

Colored Troops. 
Private Henry W. Rrcil. to Si,i,nial Corps. 
Private Geo. L. Seaji^rave. to I'irst Lieut. U. S. 

Colored Troops. 
Private Hiram .Staples, to Sis^nial C()r|)s. 
Private Au;^njstus Stone, to Secontl Lieut., 4lh 

Mass. Heavy Artillery. 
Private lulius M. Tucker, lo I'irst Lieut., sjlh 

M.lss. 

Private 1 1 ale Wesson, to Sicrnal Corps. 
Private C. W. Kendall, to Li« iit.. .Adj. cv Capt. 
Private Sylvanus Bullock, lo Lieui. V . .S. X'ols. 
Private T. M. Ward, to isi Lieut, ami Cajjt. 
Private lulwin .\. Morse, lo Lieut. 361!! Mass. 



i862. 



2^th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 129 

September 15th the Regiment left New Berne 
with other troops on transport steamers, and after a 
dehghtful day's sail through Pamlico and Albemarle 
Sounds, passing Roanoke Island-on the way, reached 
Plymouth, at the mouth of the Roanoke River. The 
object intended was an invasion of the interior 
of the State, but that being abandoned, we returned 
to New Berne, having enjoyed a fine excursion of 
over four hundred miles. 

Colonel Upton left for home October 28. Ill 
health and other considerations compelled him to /• r 

1 tion of 

sever his connection with the Regiment, to the re- Coi. 
gret both of himself and his command. An elegant 
sword, which cost one thousand dollars, was pre- 
sented to him by the private soldiers of the Regi- 
ment, as a token of their esteem. 



en APTFR \III. 



r.xpKnrnoNS. 



O'^ 1111^ 30th of October six companies of the 

1862. Rejriinent left New Hcrne in lii^lit marcliing order, 
and j^oing on board transports, sailed for Washing- 
ton. N. C, one hundred miles distant. Durinj^^ 
our brief stay at this place Company A was quar- 
tered in a larj^^e tobacco warehouse ; and for amuse- 
ment, squads were sent out to pick up negroes and 
brinj^ them to the quarters, where they were made 
to show their aijility in dancins^. One old darky 
j-HPi'i'Uh ^^'^"^ brought in, a ring formed around him. and he 
t^ was told to dance. "Hut I'se got dc rlu umaliz." he 
said. "Never mind, you must dance." and the boys 
struck uj) a low. monotonous tune, keeping time by 
jjatting their hands on their knees. The old lellow 
lx:gan to dance slowly ami clumsil) at first, but as 
he warmed up h«- threw olf hi^ jacket and shook his 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 131 

heels as lively as a boy, the soldiers shouting-, "Go 



T Rf^o 

it, rheumatiz," "Sail in, old rheumatics," "Go it 
while you're you no-," and the like. The old man 
appeared to enjoy it as well as the boys, and when 
he became tired he put on his old ragged coat, and 
walked away laughing heartily. Another negro was 
brought in — a young fellow. "I can't dance for you, 
sogers," "Suppose you try," said one of the boys. 
"I can't, I'se religious." "The h — 1 you are," said 
one. "Does it hurt you much ?" said another. "What 
church do you belong to?" asked the third. "I'se 
a Methodis," he responded. "Let him go, boys," 
said the Sergeant, and he walked quietly away. 
Another was brought in, struggling violently with 
the soldiers, who were trying to pacify him by telling 
him no harm was intended. Once in the ring, he 
looked wildly around, then making a sudden spring 
he broke through the crowd and ran like a deer, 
amid the shouts of the boys. 

When we reached Washington the artillery and 
cavalry coming overland from New Berne had not jvash- 
arrived, and we were obliged to wait for them. Col. ^'^s^on. 
Pickett said he did not wish to confine the men to 
quarters while in Washington, but would give them 
the run of the town. There was to be no riotino;' or 



132 The Story of Company A. 

pi'laj^'nji : 1^^* t.-xpeclctl they would behave Hke nuii, 

' ** ami thai, at the sound of the drum, every one would 
be in his place. Guns were stacked, sentinels posted, 
anil the boys scattered to seek such amusement as 
they thouorht best. We have seen how Company 
A boys amused themselves. It was some three 
hours or more before the other troops arrived, but 
at the first sound of the drum the men came troop- 
inj( from all directions, and before it ceased beatinj^ 
ever)' one was in place, and every i^un taken when 
the order "take arms" was ^iven. The Colonel was 
much pleased, and comjjlimented the boys on their 
promptness. 

W'c left .Sunday mornint^, November 2ncl. iiiarch- 
\x\<^ throu<^di a thinly settled countr\'. the Twenly- 
TmrUr^ fifth haviu^ the tedious duty of guarding the baggage 
mar A. train. About the middle of the afternoon the ad- 
vance (I*'orty-fourth Mass., nine months' men) met 
the enemy and had a skirmish, with a small loss to 
the Union troojjs. th(' cavalry aiul artillery tloing 
most of the fighting. This skirmish took place at 
an extensive swamj) through which flowed a con- 
siderable stream of water that crossed the road we 
were traveling ; at this point was the fighting, and 
we passed several deail Rchcls. one rolletl in his 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 133 



1862. 



blanket, with his head bound up. Broken cannon 
also lay here. We soon after bivouacked for the 
night. This place was called Rawl's Mill. 

Early morning" saw us again on the road, and 
marching through a much better country. Williams- 
ton, on the Roanoke River, was reached about 
noon. This was a pretty village of ten or twelve 
hundred inhabitants. We halted here until 4 p. m., 
and in the meantime set about getting something 

On the 

to eat as usual. Our foragers were very successful, ,„^^-^/;. 
and brought in a variety of food. For instance, we 
had beef, hog, sheep, chickens — all just killed, and 
salt horse. Soldiers say, "Live to-day if you die to- 
morrow," We were marching- throu^jh a orood 
country and lived accordingly. 

The march was resumed, the route turning for a 
few miles towards Hamilton, and by 10 r, m. we 
again went into bivouac. Sunrise next morning 
found us once more on the road, and our march was 
through woods at times on fire both sides of the 
way. At noon we came to a more open country, 
near what is known as Rainbow Bluff. It was un- 
derstood we mioht have trouble here, but we found 
no opposition. This bluff, forty or fifty feet above 
the water, had been strongly fortified, and com- 



1 34 The Story of Company A. 

mantled ihc river, but the enemy had disappeared. 

We lounil our j^unboats at this point ; they were to 
ascend the river while we continued our march 
towards HamiUon. This place, another prell\ vil- 
laj^e of a lew hundred people, was readied about 3 
r. M., and we had a rest, with a **^ood square meal," 
until 6 o'clock, when we heard the order "I-'all in." 
Thus far the country was much better than around 
New Berne. 

l>urint^ our halt near W'illiamston we found with 
other pluntler, a number of square wooden bee hives. 
Quicker than it could be spoken the hives were 
burst open and the contents distributed amonji; the 
boys. Ludicrous sij^ht — a score of sokliers eating 
honey in the comb like so much bread and Ijutter. 
Comrade Gouldinj^ found here in a liouse a small 
c^mmn- ^^■**^ partly filled with wine. The darkies said it was 
»wi.u.«»»-'"t|c church wine for de communion." "The d — 1," 
saiti (iouldin<^, "you bet it belon<^s lo Company A 
now, the best way you can cook it"; and I think it 
did, for Company A disposed of it. In brin<;ing it 
to the bivouac fire he had shaken it uj) so much that 
it was roilcti and did not look clear and invilini;. 
He offered some to Captain (ioodwin, who looktil 
at it, smelled of it. and finally tasted it. "CiouKlin«^^ 



i862. 



25tJi Re of., Mass. J'o/s. 135 

it will kill you to drink that stuff." "Happy death ! " 
said Goulding, as he swallowed a generous allow- 
ance of the sfic^. He survived. 

At about 10 p. M. we left Hamilton in flames, 
supposed to have been set by the sailors. Some 
thought our own boys were responsible lor it. Be ^,^^,^j„^ 
that as it may, we marched from the town by the of 
light of its burning houses. It was a wild sight — 
crowds of sailors and soldiers marching through the 
burning streets ; bayonets glistening, flames roaring, 
and timbers crashing. This was war. 

The next day's march was a long and tedious one. 
We started at early dawn, and, with only occasional 
halts, marched till midnigfht, when w-e bivouacked 
in a cornfield within a short distance of the railroad 
leading to Tarboro'. We were thoroughly exhausted, 
and, pulling up the dry corn stalks and laying them 
thickly between the rows, made quite comfortable 
beds. A cold northeast storm set in during the 
night, but we slept soundly in spite of it. " I re- 
member being awakened by rain dashing in my face, 
and feeling about for my cap, wdiich had fallen from 
my head, found it half full of water." It was a cold 
and cheerless time. 
18 



Dis- 
comfort. 



1^6 The Story of Company .!. 



i86a. 



Om i4/ 
rttrt<»l. 



Trains were heard running,' very often ckirinj; the 
night, and scouts reported that soldiers by thousands 
were |X)urin^ into Tarlwro'. In consequence of this 
information it was decideil that an attack upon the 
place woulil Ik.- l)ad j^oHcy, and. after a halt of some 
hours, we commenced a retreat. On tliis march 
Negroes by hundreds followed us into Plymouth. 
We passed thn»ui;h Hamilton a;4ain, this time in a 
heavy snow storm, antl we now rej^retted the burn- 
ing of the town. A few Negro cabins were all that 
remained of that preli\ village. We stayed here all 
night, ami then pushed on to W'illiamston ; the roatls 
were in horrible condition, wiih snow and iiuul 
several inches deep, and man\ of the boys' shoes 
were in bad shape. Walter Richanls ("Shucks," 
as we called him) actually marched miles barefooted, 
until we found a i)air of shoes for him. We ap- 
proached Plymouth, on th(.' Roanoke rivc-r. but found 
the l>ridg«.' ilestroyed. so we bivouacked for the 
night while the jjioneers reconstructed it. 

The march for the last few days hail been ver\ 
severe, but the boys boiled their cofft.'e. ate their 
supjK'r. smoked their jjipes. talked over the events 
of the tlay. rolled themselves in their blankets, and 
soon — sav«- the sentries* treail as they pac<'d their 



i862. 



2^tJi Rcgt., Mass. J^ols. 137 

beats — all was quiet around the bivouac fires. " I 
was about to roll m)'self in my blanket when Jimmy 
Wesson touched me on the arm and said : ' Come 
out here, I can give you a better room than this'; 
and following him a short distance I found, to my 
surprise, a bed made up, with a fire close by — 

^ ' ^ Wesson's 

feather bed, sheets, blankets, white pillows, and bed. 
everything in nice order. 'Turn in here with me; I 
reckon it's all right.' It was quite an inducement, 
but I preferred to sleep by the fire." Soldiers make 
the best of the situation, and why should they not? 
Where did the bed come from ? Borroiued, of course, 
from some house on the road. On these expeditions 
soldiers took what they wanted wherever it was to 
be found, except from houses occupied, where the 
soldiers were treated civill)'. Probably nine-tenths 
of the Southern people would have been better off 
if they had stayed at home and tried to take care of 
their property, taking the oath of allegiance. 

In the morning (Nov. 10) we crossed the bridge 
and entered Plymouth. The Twenty-fifth and the 
Twenty-seventh, with some cavalry, remained here, 
but most of the troops left at once for New Berne. 
We had comfortable quarters in a house, but as we 
had no extra clothing and the nights were cold, we 



1 38 The Story of Company A. 



1863. 



surtcrfd some uniil our blankets were sent on lioiii 
New Berne. Plymouth was a very jjrcii) town of 
some twelve humlretl inhabitants, with two churches. 
a ht)tel. court house, jail, pillory, and whippin^r post. 
The latter the boys of Comj>an\ A ii|)])r(i over and 
smashed, liir streets were shadcil with large elm 
' *"**^ tr- '^ .IS those of many .Southern villages were. 
.Man) tn.-es were covered with Hnglish ivy hanging 
in long festoons from their branches. \\ c Icasted 
on persimmons while here. This fruit was new to 
most of us ; it is a sort of date i>luin, aiul is not 
jjalaiable until touched or mellowed b)- frost ; it then 
becomes soft and agreeable to the taste. The)- were 
much sought for by the l)o)s during our sia\- in 
Plymouth, (irajx-s. sweet potatoes, an^l corn we 
also hatl in abundance. 

There was a millcT in Pl\inoulh. and the soKliers 
would forage for j>rovisions and bring in. with other 
stuff, lots of corn, anil the miller wouM grintl it for 

iy«fivimg 

ii/«ii/A^. ll^^'Hi. This was very gootl. Hut the miller had a 
large lot of corn storeil in his mill, and, as the grain 
became scarce outside, some of the soldiers managed 
slyly to get at llic miller's store, and wouUl steal 
corn from one end of ihc mill ami rarr\ ii anuind lo 
thtr other, and have liu- miller grind it. he taking 



i862. 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 139 

meal for pay. This trick worked nicely for a short 
time, but it was discovered by the miller at last, and 
I am quite sure he did not pray for us, although he 
was a very good man. Thus, by this simple i)rocess, 
we kept the miller busy, and had fresh ground meal 
for ourselves. Soldiers are full of expedients, and 
this was one. 

The Union men in Plymouth had formed a com- 
pany of soldiers. We called them "Buffaloes," and 

Buffaloes. 

they did some good service. Some of our boys 
received commissions in these "Buffalo" companies ; 
and all agree that they made good soldiers, and 
were Union-loving men. 

On this Tarboro' march, the Forty-fourth Massa- 
chusetts Regiment — nine months' men who had 
received quite large bounties — was the best clothed 
regiment in the expedition. The march proved 
severe for its men, and many of them threw ^^^^^y £,iscarded 
their overcoats, which were very nice ones. Our overcoats. 
boys "gobbled" them at once, and when we reached 
our old camp at New Berne we were much better 
off in the way of overcoats than when we left. 

On the return march from Hamilton, Jimmy 
Wesson picked up an old two- wheeled mule cart 
with mule attached. Jimmy was always very dis- 



I40 The Story of Company A. 

iiiL 1 ; arul this cart would be such a nice thiiiij^ 

for the boys, to carry the overcoats and blankets of 
those who hat! them, and to help the tircil ones by 
jjivinj^ them a riile. He soon had a K)ad, ami it 
workeil well. Just then three or four of the Forty- 
?**"" fourth boys came alone pretty well usetl up. and in 
spile of all protests, mounted the cart. Jimmy 
cpiietly j^ot ilown to "fix the harness a bit," ami he 
dill fix it. Sudilenly \\\y went the thills and over 
went the cart backwartls, tijjpin^^ out blankets and 
overcoats, and layinj^ the I'orty- fourth men sprawl- 
injj in the dust. Ihey picked themselves up and 
beat a retreat amid roars of laui^hter. Willin*,^ hands 
helped to reload the cart, and Jimmy rotle on in 
triumph. Now wIkmi wi: reached Pl)moulh, and 
the boys thankfully receiveil their overcoats from 
the cart, the vehicle was found to be more than half 
fdled with the jjrivatc plunder of this same disin- 
terested Jimmy. 

Whilt! in PKiiioulh we heanl of the ikath of C'om- 

...*" rade Kdwin 1). Waters, of Company A. lie was a 
fine soldier ami a noble-hearted fellow. I le hailetl 
from Millbury. ami was about twenty-six \i-ars oKl. 
.Some thouj^ht he actually died from i^r^itini^ low- 
spirited ami discouraged about the war. \o doubt 



i862. 



2^th Regt., Mass. Vols. 141 

many soldiers did die from this cause alone. Waters 
was in the hospital at New Berne at the time of his 
death. 

While occupying Plymouth, Captain Parkhurst 
was acting Provost Marshal, Colonel Pickett being 
in command. On this march we had no clothes 
aside from those on our backs, and as weeks went 
by, we got into a pretty bad condition. We were 
ragged, dirty and — the word must be said — lousy, become 
So we concluded to have a washing day, every man ^°^^y' 
to be his own washerwoman. Fires were built in the 
rear of the house we occupied, kettles procured, 
and at it we went. We took off all the clothes we 
could possibly spare, and thrust them into the kettles 
of boiling water to kill the graybacks (vermin) , and 
after some time boilinof o-ave them a thorouoh wash- 
ing. Meantime a comical sight presented itself — 
soldiers moving about trying to keep warm, wearing 
an airy costume for the season — army cap, overcoat, 
and brogans, — "Only these and nothing more"; but 
we came out victorious, for we beat the graybacks. 

Many people came into Plymouth from the coun- 
try while we were there, coming often many miles 
down the river in dugouts — a kind of canoe made 
from a single log. These people were both whites 



142 The Story of Company A. 

arul blacks, and were seeking protection under the 

i86a. ^ 

Starr)" flag. 

Thanksgiving day found us still at Plymouth, 
Company A on guard. Some were posted on board 
the schooner Skirmisher to guard prisoners. We 
,.kept uj> the time-honored custom as best we could 
in old North Carolina, and so had a chicken dinner. 
When we reached Plymouth our wagon train had 
increased much in length, ami was over four miles 
long. 

We left Plymouth on December Sth. passing down 

the Roanoke River, which is a narrow but deep 

stream, into the Sound past Roanoke Island, and 

Ktiurm reached New Berne about 3 w m. of the loth; ami 

/* Ara- ^y^.^j. ordered off again at 7 a. m. of the i iih. This 

Btrn<. 

was soldiering. We had been absent Iroin New 
Berne nearly six weeks, had traveled a distance of 
over four hundred miles, antl actually marched one 
hundred and twenty-five miles. 

Immediately on our reaching camp the cooks 
were set to work to cook rations for the exjjedition 
of the following day. This is always the first step 
in i)reparing for a march — to get the rations ready. 
Little time was there for the ordinary camp gossip 
and fun, but what lime wi! hail was usc-d to the best 



25th Regi., Mass. Vols. 143 

advantage in putting our shoes and clothing in good 



tion. 



order, overhauling our rifles and equipments, look- 
ing into knapsacks, and making everything ship- 
shape. A soldier's rifle is supposed to be always 
ready. For the first time in six weeks we had an 
opportunity to change our shirts. 

Large numbers of troops had been gathered in 
New Berne during our absence, so that when the 
expedition started, on the morning of December 
nth, it comprised four brigades commanded by 
General Wessels, and Colonels Amory, Stevenson 
and Lee. These brigades were made up of twenty Goidsboro' 
regiments, of which twelve were Massachusetts men. 
The Ninth New Jersey accompanied us as an inde- 
pendent organization. Belger's Rhode Island Bat- 
tery and portions of other batteries were with the 
column, making all told probably twenty thousand 
men, and thirty or more pieces of artillery.* The 
expedition was commanded by General Foster. 

When we started at early daylight of the nth 
there was a heavy fog, but it cleared away in an 
hour or two. We took the old road to Deep Gully, 
beyond which we found the way badly blockaded. 

*The column on this Goldsboio' Expedition, including all the troops, with 
the wagons necessary for ammunition and supplies, ambulances, etc., could 
not have been less than six miles in length. 

19 



1 44 The Story of Company A. 

Heavy trees hat! been felled across the road lor a 

' * lon^ distance, showing that the enemy had been 
busy. The pioneers had a hard job cullin}^^ a matl 
throuj^di this blockaiie. ami after a march of a dozen 
miles from New Heme we bivouacked for the ni^ht. 
We had now frosty nij^hts, and in spite of the many 
camp fires, we suffered from the cold. 

The march of the followinj^ day (Dec. 12) was 
slow and tetlious in the e.xtreme — roads much ob- 
structed anil brid*(es tlestroyetl — so we made even 
■^ **"■' less proj^rress than the day before. As we passed 
in the early evcninj,^ the brij^ht fires of the retriments 
alreatly in bivouac, we thouj^dit our da\'s march was 
near its end. but not so. for wc! pushetl on, and not 
till after mitlnij^ht liid we conn- to a halt. .Saturday. 
the 15th. the march was resumed, antl at a place 
called Southwest Creek the enemy made a stand, 
but were ilriven after a smart enj^aj^^ement. in which 
Wessels's Hrii^ade. the Ninth New Jersey and the 
Twenty-third Massachusetts took i)art. This was 
within five or six miles of Kinston. Our bivouac 
this nij(ht was wretched and uncomfortable enouj^h, 
— the j^round cold and wil. and no fires allowed. 
.Sunday, tlu- i4lh. afltrr a sliort march, it ai)p( ;ucd 
that the enirmy was ddcrmined lo make a decided 



i862. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 145 

stand. The brigade of Wessels was again engaged, 
together with the Seventeenth, Twenty-third, Twen- 
ty-fifth and r^orty-fifth Massachusetts, and the Ninth 
New Jersey, The cannonading was very heavy, as 
was also the musketry firing ; and we knew, as we 
lay on the ground waiting for our turn to go in, that 

Dec. 14. 

the struggle was a fierce one. Soon the wounded Battle of 
began to be brought to the rear, and we had full J^'^'^^^on. 
benefit of the sight as the grim procession passed 
close by us, still the boys chatted gaily as they talked 
over the situation. "How does it gro?" asked one 
of our men of a soldier who was assisting in bring- 
ing out the wounded. "We are driving them" was 
the reply ; and we all sprung to our feet as we heard 
the order, "Fall in Twenty-fifth." We moved rapidly 
into the woods, and noticed on either side of the 
way the ground thickly dotted with the bodies of 
the Blue and the Gray. 

At this time the enemy had again fallen back, and 
on getting through the woods we halted near an old 
weather-beaten, dismal-looking building, said to be 
a church. Parties were detailed to bury the dead ; 
Lieutenant Tew appeared to have command. He 
approached near where we were, with two men 
bearing a stretcher, and stopped to pick up a dead 



1 46 The Sti>ry of Company A. 

Johniu (Rebel). Ihe body was placed on the 



stretcher, one arm projectinj^ over the side. The 
Lieutenant bent the arm over the body, when it 
immediately retiirneil to iis first position. Again 
he replaced it and again it moved back as before. 
umM^rm ^^ Lieutenant looked a bit provoked, but tried it 
A'**f/. the thiril time with the same result. I le straightened 
up. and with a look that meant business, exclaimed, 
"IJy G — d, Johnny. I nj// fix you," and thrust the 
offemling hand into the jacket of the dcail Rebel. 
This time it stayed, and th(.* stretcher moved on. 

Shallow trenches, not much (ner two feet deep. 
were dug. and side by side the dead were placed 
therein, their faces covered, and as carefully as 
|X)ssible the earth was hastily thrown over them, 
""<'' and the onler given to fail in. This may seem 
hard — as one of our boys expressed it : "It's kind o' 
rough, ain't it fellers?" lUit there was no other way 
— nothing else could be done under the circum- 
stances; so we marched on aiKl left them in th(!ir — 
is the next word Gi.okv ? 

We reacheil the \euse River, fairly overlooking 
the town of Kinston. A bridge was here, ami it 
was said that General Foster sent a (lag of truce 
demanding a surrender. Rebel General Itlvans did 



i862. 



25tJi RcgL, Mass. Vols. 147 

not see it in that light and poHtely declined the 
honor. Foster ordered up a battery and threw 
shells clear over the town ; the enemy departed, and 
we crossed the bridge and occupied the place. The 
Twenty-fifth bivouacked near the river in an open 
field. Fires were built, but first we had to eet the 
fence rails. "As a cold kitten makes for a warm occupy 
brick, so does a cold and hungry soldier go for dry ^''«-f'''«- 
fence rails." (A soldier's proverb, and a very true 
one.) We took fences and tore down buildings 
for firewood, cooked our coffee, ate our supper of 
hard-tack, salt horse and sweet potatoes roasted in 
the ashes, and then went visiting to look over the 
property and see what we could find. Until a late 
hour that night the boys were returning to the 
bivouac fire bringing all sorts of stuff to eat and 
drink. This seemed to be a great wine country, 
and we got hold of some very good wine, and apple 
jack or apple brandy, a more plebeian drink but quite 
passable. We found sweet potatoes in any quantity, 
and one goose — mighty tough it was too, after hours 
of boiling. We also found much tobacco. 

There was a fire in Kinston that night, and no 
one seemed to know how it came about. Did 
Goulding know ? 



1 48 The Story of Company A. 



186a. 



Sttrmtik, 



As we would have to march early in the mornin^r 
there was no way to carry the eatables, so they were 
cookeil at once, and we ate the eatables and drank 
the drinkables, and so settled that lilllc inaitcr in 
the quickest way. Xow there was, strictly speakin*^. 
no pillat;in}^ — no houses were interfered with that 
were inhabited — but there is no doubt about it, 
chickens, jji^s and "such like" did suffer some ; and 
all this on Sunday. December 14th. 1862. 

On the 15th the column was movini; ai^^ain. We 
recrossed the brid<^e over the Neuse. which we then 
destroyed, and pushed on towards Whitehall, making 
a loni( march of from sixteen to eitjhteen miles, and 
cominj^ to a halt kite in the evening about three 
miles from lh(-* town. Here, on tlic morninL,^ of the 
l6th, a lively skirmish took jjlace. the enemy bein^ 
posted on the opj^osite side of the river. T'or hours 
the artillery firing was very heavy, and the Rebel 
sharpshooters annoyed our troops vit\- much. .So 
one hundred sharj)shooters were callcil lor from 
the Twtrnty-fifth ; ten or twelve went from Comj^any 
A, and all these men diil excellent service. After 
three or four hours of this lii^hlinLj^. in which the 
artillery played a conspicuous |)art. the enemy with- 
drew, and our troops moved on. comini; to a hall 



2Sth Regf., Mass. Vols. 149 

a few miles from Goldsboro'. Our troops destroyed 



a ram that was buildinor at Kinston. The loss to 
the Union side in this affair was seventy to eighty 
killed and wounded. 

At nicrht, as we sat around the bivouac fire talk- 
ing" over the events of the day, our sharpshooters 
began to come in. We had been talking about 
them ; some had been wounded, and one — Moses 
P. Brown — was reported killed. This Brown was a 
happy-go-lucky sort of chap, good-natured, great 
for foraging ; and every one seemed sorry that he 
was killed. "He was not so bad a fellow after all," 
said one. "That's so," said another, "good-hearted Bro7cm 
boy," and so on. hist at that moment who should '^^' '^'^ 

•' ■^ Broton 

appear but Brown himself, loaded as usual with uving. 
plunder, which he threw down at our feet with his 
cheery "Hello, fellers." We were astonished. "Well, 
I'll be blowed," said one, "if here ain't that cussed 
Brown." How soldier-like — praising him when we 
thought him dead, cursing him when we found he 
was alive. 

Brown was indeed well loaded down with (of 
course) eatables. A ham stuck on his bayonet, a 
pair of chickens, and a bag of sweet potatoes, were 
the principal things. 



Iti62. 



1 50 Tfu Story of Company A. 

On the morninjT of the I7lh our hrii^atlc (Col. 
\x:ti) hat! the advance, and after a short march 
through jjinc forests, we heard the sharp reports of 
riHes aheatl. and knew that the enenn liad made 
another stand. At this time a battery came tearinj^ 
down the road, passed rapitlly through the column 
on its way to the front, and turning into the fields 
on the right, crossed a small stream, and took a 
j>osition on a slii^ht elevation that commanded the 
Dec. 17. n^t-^iJo^v in front and the railroad beyond. Behind 

B*uU *f 111 

c*/ji*,»r/ this railroad stood the Rebel brigades, said to be 
commanded by Kvans ami Clingman. with Pettigrew 
as a sujjport. ( )ur regiment crossed the stream, 
which was small and shallow, and took a jjosition to 
the left of the batter), wliich ojjened on the enemy 
and made (juick work with them. They were thrown 
into disorder, and soon were in full retreat. They 
fell back across the river and again formed, when 
the battery took another position and we followed, 
and coming to a halt, laid down on the ground close 
to and in front of the guns, wiiich opened again on 
the enemy, sending shell directly over our heads. 
"I^y low, Twenty-fifth," sung out the battery boys ; 
and I think we did. "Down )<)ur colors." Tiie 
flag held uj>right. was brought down to the ground 



i862. 



25tJi Rcot,^ Mass. Vols. 151 

as directed. The battery boys behaved splendidly ; 
we could hear the orders given to them, and see how 
quickly they were obeyed. It was like the working 
of a machine. Meantime regiments had been sent 
to destroy the railroad ; this was a remarkable sight. 
A rep-iment formed beside the track, and at the word 

_ ^ Battle of 

all lifted at once and rolled the track right over and coidsbord' 
down the bank. Some built fires of sleepers, and 
laying rails across piled others on them, thus bend- 
ing the iron out of shape. A Lieutenant Graham, 
of the Twenty-third New York Battery, volunteered 
to burn the railroad bridge, which he did successfully, 
performing a most perilous feat. 

The enemy had again been forced to retire, and 
we were ordered to fall back, which we did, crossing 
the little stream acrain. As we were to be the rear 
guard we waited for the column to pass. It was 
quite late in the afternoon, and we were resting 
quietly, feeling that our day's work was about done, 
when we noticed a commotion among the battery 
boys. The cavalry, too, we could see were uneasy, 
and appeared to be looking intently to the front. 
Soon we heard the Rebel yell, apparently in the 
same meadow from which they had been driven, 
and knew there was trouble ahead. We saw the 



1 5 2 The Story of Company A. 

l)allcry men move the ^ims forward. Then a call 



was maile for support, and we were ordered back to 
the field. The enemy charj^ed on our Ljuns, and 
the batteries bej^an to speak. It was a si^rht to see 
how rapidly they were fireil. W't- crossed the Utile 
^*!^i .stream once more, reached the desired position, and 
laid down in close column by division, almost under 
the ^ains of lieli^er's Battery, which we were to suj)- 
port. In the meantime the Rebels formed in three 
lines and were making for our guns, but these were 
lakinj^ care of themselves. We could hear the boys 
at the battery talk coolly with each other. "I ierc is 
a shot for ihc okl Hai^!" they shouted as a gun was 
fired, and a sju-ll went screaming through the air on 
its deadly mission, making a great lane through the 
ranks of the Ciniy. "Here is one for Uncle Abe!" 
"Here's one for the Twenty-fifth!" and "Here is 
one for the devil ! " as the guns were fired in rapid 
succession. No machine could have worked more 
steadily than did Helger's Battery in the fight at 
Goldsboro' Bridge. 

.And now the TwentN-fiflh boys bc-gan to go 
woundetl to the rear. We were in a bad place; 
shots from both sides passed over our heads, and 
wc could not tire a gun. ( )iir time had not come — 



i862. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 153 

it did not come in that battle. Our cavalry had 
meantime charged over and over again, and against 
that terrible fire from Belger's and Morrison's bat- 
teries no human power could stand, so the Rebels 
fell back across the meadow and beyond the rail- 
road out of sight, leaving the ground thickly strewn 
with their dead and wounded. 

"We were all lying on the ground, shots flying 
thickly around us, orders to lay low. Col. Pickett, 
expecting an order to advance his regiment, had 
mounted a stump, and was carefully looking the Pi<:keirs 
ground over in his front to get his bearings. 'Lay 
low, boys,' he repeated, when a soldier looked up 
at him with the very pat question, 'Why don't you 
lay low yourself, Colonel ?' We heard no answer 
to the question, but did hear sundry expressions, as 
'Good hit,' 'Pretty well put,' and the like." 

Again we fell back, but the little stream we had 
crossed so many times was now swollen to a broad, 
deep, swift-running torrent, still rising ; but we 
jumped in and struggled through as best we could, 
holding rifles and cartridge boxes high to keep them 
dry. The cavalry and artillery had no trouble in 
crossing, but many of the infantry boys were washed 
down stream ; some got out and some were lost. 



1 54 T^f*^ Story of Company A. 



i86a. 






1 1 .sa- .i.tw ilark and j^rew cold very fast; we were 
in a *iad pli);lu lor our clothes froze on us as we 
inarcheil. W'e soon reached the woods ; these had 
been set on fire by the troops ahead of us, but this 
scn'cd a i^ood purpose, for it helped to make us 
warm, h was a ihrillinj^ sij^ht ; the flames were 
roarinj^ on lx)th sides of the road, and ahead it was 
one mass of fire — a L^limpse of hell I The sudden rise 
of the stream was accounted for by the breaking of 
a dam. somt- saiil by the enem\ , others by cannon 
shot. 

We bivouacked loni^ after midnight in a corn field. 
On the iSth we marched all day with only a halt 
long enough to cook our cofifee. Forest on fire as 
before. ".\t night, being unable to sleep. I took a 
stroll through the silent camp. It was midnight, 
ami the fires were burning low. but still bright 
enough to throw a faint light over the whole camp 
and its sleeping soldiers. The long line of guns 
stacked were plainly to be seen. Around and under 
their guns were the forms of the battery boys, sleej)- 
ing quietly as kittens ; their horses closely guarded 
and carefully cared for, were near by. In the dis- 
tance could be seen the gleam of moving bayonets 
as sentries paced their beats. Ibre was a .soldier, 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 155 

unable to sleep, having a solitary smoke ; another 



making a cup of coffee. In another place two were 
smoking, talking over in a low tone the incidents of 
the march. 'Hallo,' said one, 'what rep-iment?' 

=> Stroll at 

'Twenty-fifth Massachusetts,' I replied. 'Have a sit- midnight. 
down, Sergeant,' and he pulled his blanket along 
for a seat. Soon we were gossiping away as cosy 
as could be, talking over the events of the expedi- 
tion, and anticipating the morrow. 'I say, Bill, haul 
out those potatoes, — done ain't they?' 'Guess so,' 
and with his bayonet he poked half a dozen sweet 
potatoes out of the hot embers. Salt was pro- 
duced, and with a cup of piping hot coffee and the 
omnipresent hard-tack, we had a good soldiers' 
supper, eaten with soldiers' appetite. A half-hour 
spent thus, and extending them an invitation to 
return the visit, I bade them good night, and made 
my way back. It was a calm, still night, and above 
the quiet stars looked down upon this bivouac of 
twenty thousand men. It was a scene never to be 
forgotten." 

One night we bivouacked near Wise's Forks, 
filed into a field on the left of the road, stacked 
arms, and went for rails for our fires. It was a hard 
effort to get them, but we succeeded at last, and a 



1 56 The Story of Company A. 



1862. 






cheery rail tire covered with liii cii|)S full of coffee 
was a jjleasaiU si^ht for cokl aiul lircd soldiers. 
While j^alherin^ leaves and luintinj^ for rails a com- 
rade discovered a dead Johnny partly covered with 
leaves. Soon others were foiuul, and Comratle 
Mayers — I think it was — reported fnulinj^ "some 
Johnnies out in the wckkIs all dead. " "What are 
you fretlint^^ about then? All dc-ad you say?" 
"Yes." "I'hen they won't trouble us before mornini^, 
will they ?" They did though, for a detail was made 
to bury them, and the order had to be obeyed. 
Thirteen dead Confederates were found at this place ; 
the Third New York Cavalry had been throuL^h here, 
and this was tlu- result in i)art. 

This march back to New Heme, which we reached 
Sunday the 21st. was severe. The weather was 

Sfitrr 

w<atktr. very cold, and one nij^dit the water froze in the can- 
teens under our heads, as we laid with our feet to 
the rail fire. W<.' were absent from New Hcriu' 
thirteen days, ami the Union loss in killed, wounded 
and missinj^ was five hundred and seventy-five men. 
"On the return from Cioldsboro* rations of whiskey 
were served out to the men. Corporal I'^lwell had 
on this occasion taken a larj^e ration, aiul was makini^ 
considerable noise, struttinj^ about and callinj^ him- 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 157 

self Provost Marshal of Plymouth. This was a hit 



at Captain Parkhurst, who was Provost Marshal of ^ ^* 
Plymouth while we were there. It made some dis- 
turbance. Colonel Pickett, who was on horseback, 
rode up and seeing the state of things, could hardly 
keep down a laugh ; but calling Lieutenant Bessey, 
said : 'Take the Corporal away, or I shall Jiave to see 
him.' Pickett possessed that happy faculty of not 
seeing too much." 

The new year of 1863 found us at New Berne in 
old Camp Oliver, and for some weeks we had a Q^\^\.NewYear 
time of it. February 8th, one hundred guns were 
fired from Fort Totten, it being the anniversary of 
the taking of Roanoke Island. 

The weather was very changeable ; warm days 
and cold, often freezing, nights. This caused much 
sickness. It is but justice to say that the Twenty- 
fifth was the crack regiment of the Department, and 
great crowds came every day to witness the dress 
parade. 

"One Sunday, after inspection, all the sergeants 
being in their tent. Sergeant McLane said he was 
going to get a pass to go down town. 'What for, 
Jemsy ? Nothing going on in town to-day,' said Burr. 
'Well, fellers, we have been out here a year and a 



1 58 The Story of Company A. 

half, and I have not been to church ; I feel as though 

I ought to go.' 'Good, Jemsy, that's just the way 
I feel,' said Sergeant IHitnani. Jcmsy got his pass 
and departetl. The day wtrnt by as Sundays always 
tlitl ; the boys amused themselves with reading, 
writing, slicking up, etc., and profound tjuiet reigned 
in Camp Oliver. After dress jjaraile, when all the 
sergeants were in their tent, Jemsy returned, his 
appearance, to say the least, not indicating that he 
had been to church. 'Well, Jemsy, had a good time?' 
frmyrrt. 'Y-o-u b-c-t I have.' 'Go to church?' asked Burr. 
'Y-e-s, I did. aiul would nou jjclicvc it. I got down 
on my knees and I'll be G — <1 d — tl lo h — 1 it I couKl 
think of a single prayer!'" 




Htiiot/I^e Prinimg Co Bo.stou 



CHAPTER IX. 

EXPEDITIONS ( Continued ) . 

ON THE 4th of March Companies A and C went 

on picket on the Trent road near Deep Gully, ^' 
joining the companies already there under Captain ^^^ . 
Denny. The camp was known as Camp Pickett. /""Xv//. 
On the 6th we heard the order while on duty, "Fall 
in A, fall in. The Twenty-fifth comes." Soon the 
Regiment made its appearance, and we took our 
place in line, and started off on another expedition. 
After a march of a dozen miles towards Kinston, 
passing the blockade again, we bivouacked in a 
beautiful spot completely shut in by pine woods 
and perfectly concealed. This was near the forks 
of the Trenton and Kinston roads. Companies A, G 
and K were ordered to be in readiness at midnight 
to go on a scout, the object being to "gobble up" 
a body of Rebel infantry on picket five or six miles 



1 6o Thf Story of Company A. 

from t)ur l)ivouac. arul to destroy tlicir camp. At 
the appointed time we left our camp with a company 
of" the Third New York Cavalry in advance. The 
nij^ht was very dark at the start. I)iit we j>ushed on 
MiJmigkt ihroiii(h woods, swamps and mud towards Kinston 
for three or four miles, lh<-n advancini; with more 
caution as we drew near the picket post of the 
enemy. Suddenly, crack went a rifle in advance, 
the cavalry matle a tlash and the infantry followed 
at tlouble-cjuick. This was all v(,Ty excitinjif. Hut 
that rifle shot would alarm the next post, and we 
must move on. Soon there was another shot and 
another ilash of the cavalry, in which they succeeded 
in capturinfj one of the Rebel pickets ; and on we 
went. .\ horseman was now heartl approachinj^ ; 
the cavalry dismounted and (|ui(il\- awaited his atl- 
vance. They challenged and j^rappled with him ; 
the struj^gle was fierce hut sliort. Xo shots fired 
this time. The horseman is captured ami sent to 
the rear under j^uard. 

As we still j)ressed on lhf)se aheail received llur 
fire of some half-dozen rifles — jirohably a reserve 
j^uard, or the main picket camp. The cavalry had 
two wounded this time ; we had none. An ojx.'n 
field was on our left, woods on our rii^ht, and ojjin 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 161 



1863. 



fields beyond. Ahead — perhaps a quarter of a mile 
— was a dark line of woods, in which was supposed 
to be the enemy's camp. Skirmishers — Company 
G, Lieutenant Daly — were thrown out on the right ; 
on the left a portion of Company A, Sergeant Put- 
nam, while the rest of Company A under Lieutenant 
Bessey, and Company K, Lieutenant Forbes, held 
the center in the road. The skirmishers of Com- 
pany A took their place in line in the field as quickly 
as if it had been broad daylight, and we went for- 
ward. A wide, deep ditch was encountered, but 
with a sort of flying jump the boys managed to cross, Attack on 
and we advanced again. Soon the moon came out '^^ '^'^"'^• 
from behind the clouds and we could view the whole 
country in our vicinity. A volley was fired on our 
right — Company G was catching it. We came to a 
barn, and geese hissed at us as we passed, but not 
a gun was fired. It was comical withal, the hissing 
of those geese, and a low laugh ran down the skir- 
mish line. We approached the woods and still not 
a shot was fired. A light was seen through the 
trees, and the forms of tents dimly appeared. We 
had struck the Rebel camp. We entered the woods, 
the left of the skirmish line swung around to the 
right, and we had the camp — a dozen tents — sur- 
rounded. 



1 62 The Story of Company A. 

McaiuiniL* ilic iroojjs, wiili the cavalry in advance, 
1863. 

had charj^eJ clown the road, received a volley from 

the Rebels, and then driven them. Corporal Jimmy 

Green ('•Spinl" we called him) was sent to Captain 

'/Denny, who was in commaiul. to rc-jjort thai we had 

" " captured the camp, and he ordered it burned. Hut 
first we went throuj^h it. We found boxes unopened, 
evidently just received; we opened them with our 
bayonets and found them filled with j^ood things 
from home — apples, cake, eg^s, etc. We, of course, 
ate the solids, and — certainly, why not ? — drank the 
lluids, and then proceeded to obey orders. We 
stirretl up the fire, piletl on everythinj^ that would 
burn, and soon all was in a blaze. 

Corporal Hui^djee heard chickens cackle. "Kill 

-, . . 'em, bovs. " he shouied, "Damn 'em, we can eat 'em ! 
<ki(i<H!. Wrin^*^ their necks! " \'ery soon there was no more 
cackling of chickens. Hut they proved rather ex- 
pensive to the Corporal, for in his haste to catch 
them he kicked asitle a little roll of paper which was 
picked up by Comrade White, who fi)und he hatl 
sixty dollars in Confederate bills. These, of course, 
were not passable within our lines, but White ex- 
chan^^ed them with North Carolina people for llu-ir 
money, which was current in New H<rnc. and this 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 163 

he loaned about to the boys, and they, on next pay 

day, returned it to him in greenbacks ! Bugbee got 
the chickens but lost the money. 

After the camp had been destroyed we made a 
hasty march back to our bivouac in the woods, 
reaching there about six o'clock on the morning of 
the 7th, having marched about a dozen miles since 
leaving our camp at midnight. We remained here 
until the next day and then returned to Camp 
Pickett. 

Our boys brought away some things from the 
Rebel camp, — rifles, knapsacks, and several "Yan- "^'^"^'^'^ 

Slayers." 

kee Slayers"* — but nothing of value. Some letters 
found in the knapsacks which our boys went through, 
showed a pitiful state of things in the South at that 
early stage of the war. The following are extracts 
from a letter which was taken from a knapsack in 
this camp, and is now in the possession of the 
writer. It was written by a mother to her sons in 
the Confederate army. 

* These "Yankee Slayers" were huge, rough blades, one and a half feet 
long, and quite heavy. They were hammered out by hand, had rude scab- 
bards, and were intended to be hung on the waist-belt. One of these, taken 
from the Rebel camp, is now in the museum of The Worcester Society of 
Antiquity. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that these terrible-looking 
weapons were perfectly harmless. I never knew of one of them being used, 
nor (lid I ever hear of any person who was injured by one. 



1 64 The Story of Company A. 

febaray ihe z"* 1S63 

^''^1' Deer Sons i sce-t mysclfc to Dropc you uiis a lew lins 

to let you no ihal i rcscvcti your kintl an«l Wclkiin lelcr to nitc 
ami i war Mour thc-n gladilc 10 her frouj you both these few hns 
levcs us ail well at this time . . . i war gbde to her from you 
uns ami sorry to her that y(»u War on i>ii kcl and had notliing to 
eat i want to no W hether you got NS hat litcl i sent . . if you 
stav thar and if you Dont get kill ner takin prisner i will try and 
git some bo<l«ly to felt h you somthing to eat time is haril her 
i have bin tring to git \N heat anti corn ever sins and i 
cant gilc a bite at no prise corn is Worth from 2 to 3 Dolers and 
cant git hit at that they War a Man at town the outher Day and 
he oferd A hunderd Dolers A barle and tolil not git hit at thai 
Meet they is ofern A Doler and fifty cents A pond and i Dont no 
What the |»epel Will D«jw her let lone the i)our Solger and hit is 
harde on both sids . . . 

fer What i can under stand you boys is giting \ilU^iHf\ Wicketl 
takin up the |Mjur yankes and taken tha c iothing of and pull iher 
evs opin an iher Moth and standin theni up and cusen them and 
i Want to no Whether hit is so or not i Dont no Whether hit is 
so [or] not i hojK- hit aim so and i never Want to her of the 
like beeing Don in ther (ompny A gane When i hirde hite hit 
Made the hare rise one My hed how Wod i fel to her of your A 
lieeing kill and the yankeys servin you so . . . 

the young girls is Wating fer you solgers to come they say to 
the oMe Men When they come A Ixjut them goe Way you is no 
solgcs goe to the War 

This expedition was a l)()lcl tliiiiL^ to untk-rtake. 
aiul was well jjlanncHl ami well carried out. it was 
only partially successful, however, l<>r the jjurpose 
was to capturr the entin* d<-tachnicnt, wh<-n-as we 



2^tJi Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 165 

secured only half a dozen prisoners; but we broke 

up the post and destroyed the camp. 

The troops left for New Heme, Company A re- 
maining at Camp Pickett. On the 13th of March 
the enemy made a bold attempt to capture New 
Berne. They approached the town from every 
available point, driving in our pickets at Deep Gully, 
and four companies, A, C, G and K, were ordered 
there. This Deep Gully was a ravine extending 
from the Trent river some miles towards the Neuse, 
and having a deep stream of water running through 
it, not easily crossed except at one place where was Attack at 

Deep 
Gully. 



a bridge and one or two fords. At the Gully was 



an earth-work which protected the bridge, and one 
old Quaker gun made it look quite formidable. As 
the enemy approached near. Company A under 
Lieutenant Bessey ; Company C, Lieutenant Davis ; 
and Company G, Captain Wagely, formed in the 
rear of the earthwork, Company A at the left. Soon 
the enemy opened on us with grape shot, which 
passed harmlessly over our heads as we lay on the 
ground and crashed into the woods at our rear. 
Sergeant Wesson ("Old Rats" the boys called him) 
seeing a large stump directly in his front, ten or 
twelve feet distant, crawled to it, and feeling quite 



1 66 The Story of Company A. 

secure Ixrhiiul it. looked back to us. aiul with a 



«863. ... 

motion of his fingers to his nose said. "Don't you 

wish you were here?" In less than a minute a 
solid shot struck the stump, which proved to be 
rotten, and the pieces Hew in every direction. Wes- 
son was not injuretl. and a luarly laui^h j^reeted 
him as he wrij^j^led back to his place in line. 

The place j.jot too warm for us. and we were or- 
dered to fall back, which we did without harm. The 
cavalry had one man killed. We formed in line of 
battle with the cavalr)' on our left, and waited for 
an attack ; hours passed with little firing and no 
harm dt)ne. At the first appearance of the enemy 
a messenger had been sent to New Berne for help, 
and about 6 r. m.. the balance of the old Twenty- 
BrrMf fifiji ^vith ilie I'ifth ami l-'orty-si.\th Massachusetts 
regiments, and part of Belger's Hatter)', reached us. 
Our regiment was the first to arrive, and we were 
glad to see our comrades, ami now felt as if we 
could drive the enemy, although it was reported 
that they had over a dozen pieces of arlillcr)-, somt* 
cavalr)", and eight or ten regiments. 

The enemy were ilela)c'd in crossing at tlu: (iully 
a little while, as our people hatl ilestroyed the briilge. 
Trees had also been felled across the road which 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 167 



1863. 



added to the delay, but after a time they got into 
position, and there was considerable firing until 
dark. That night was freezing cold, and as no 
fires were allowed we were in a wretched plight. 
It did seem as though the cold would penetrate to 
our very bones. 

The next day, the 14th, we were relieved by the 
Forty-third Massachusetts, and we returned to 
Camp Oliver, passing on the way our picket camp, 
and taking our knapsacks with us. 

It seems that the attack on New Berne was a 
failure in every quarter. The gunboats took a hand 
in it on the Neuse river, and altogether there was The 
quite a lively time. The Rebs at the Gullv were \ ., 

1 -' ■'a failure. 

under command of General B. B. Hill, while Petti- 
grew commanded across the Neuse river, opposite 
New Berne. "^ 

There were probably at this time in New Berne, 
twenty-five thousand men, and an imposing sight q,.^^^^ 
was the grand review by General Foster. It was, I review. 
think, the largest body of soldiers we ever had in 
North Carolina. 

As one hundred guns were fired on February 8th 

* For a full description of this attack on Ne«' Berne, see Denny's Wearing 
the Blue. 



1 68 The Story of Company . I. 

in honor of the Battle of Roanoke, so we wrre to 

have a hoHday on March i4ih. in honor of ilu- cap- 
ture of New Berne ; l)iit to accomodate ilu* Rebels 
in their desire to attack the |)lace on that day. our 
celebration was put oft until tiu- 171)1. Hu the 
morhiny; of that day crowds j^athered on the parade 
ground to witness the sports. Cieneral Foster and 
staff, also Cieneral Palmer, were present, and aj>- 
|)eared to enjoy the fun as sensible men should. A 
bo.xing match between Captain Tom O'N'eil and his 
brother Jim. was one of the e.xercises ol the da) . 
Sack races followed, in which Company A was repre- 
, , scnted bv Comrade Saw\er. who carried away tlie 
prize. Climbintr the greased pole caused a deal of 
merriment. 1 lalf a do/en iiu-ii blindfolded, wlieel- 
ing wheelbarrows at a mark, were a comical feature 
in the programme, and chasing greased pigs made 
much commotion all over the camjj, while other 
s|)orts occupied the time until the middle ol the 
afternoon, when the affair l)r()kc up, and tiie c rowtis 
dispersed. 

Two days after, on the ic^th, tents were struck. 
and the Regiment was on its wa\ to Plymouth on 
l)oard the steamer F.scorl. ,\s there was not room 
for tlie whol«- regiment on tjie \essel Companies .\. 



2^tJi RegL, Mass. I'o/s. 169 

E and H marched to th(; l)arracks used 1)\- the lujrty- 



fourth, and remained until the 23d, when the same 
-Steamer took the three companies and landed them 
at Plymouth on the 25th. One nicrht, during- our 
stay at the barracks, we thought it would be — as 
Comrade Bolster expressed it — conducive, if we could 
have a dance. Leave was obtained to remain up 
after taps, two fiddles were found in a neighboring 
regiment, candles procured and the old barracks Our 
lighted up, and at it the boys went. But to dance 
without ladies was a difficulty not reckoned on, and 
it was, I think, the genius of Private Bolster that 
overcame it. "Take your caps, lellers ; visors to 
the front, men ; visors to the rear, women." Tis 
done, and funny enough, all visors are to the rear! 
All want to be women. This was soon arranged 
and the fun began. Mr. (Capt.) Thomas O'Neil 
and Miss (Lieut.) Daly were the stars of the eve- 
ning, keeping the crowd in a roar of laughter. For 
two hours the frolic went on, when orders came 
"Lights out," and the day ended. This is a trifling- 
incident to note, but there are many such trifling 
incidents in the every-day life of the soldier. Even 
in war time, soldiers are not always fighting, nor 
always on the march ; but soldiers are ahoays busy, 



1 70 The Story of Company . I. 

and if tlut\ il()<-s not lall thcin. Inn comes to tlic 



from 

A transport ship with six or t-ij^ht huntlrctl iiu*n 
on lx)ard is not ilu- most comfortable place in the 
ski/Jii- NvorUI. one great trouble beinj^ the lack of facilities 
t^mf»rii. ^Qj, cookin)^ for the multitude. Any soldier will 
appreciate the situation. The ortlinar)- ship cookinjjf 
aj)paratus is at best limited in its cajjacity. and of no 
great account with such a crowd. Now the steamer 
Escort was provided with huge boilers in which 
could be cookeil a barrel of beef and a barrel of 
coffee at the same time : liiis to us was a godsend 
and of the greatest benefit to th(,* soldiers. 

Since our last \ isit to Plymonih the town had 
changed for the worse. It had been occupied by 
Ffffii both Union and Confederate troops, and a few weeks 
•y ^^" before was set on fire by the enemy, and the business 
portion in the center of the town entirely destroyed. 
Several large private houses, with elm trees in front. 
from whose branches hung in long festoons the i\y 
green," were also consumed. Hut this is war. ( )ur 
camp was pitched in liu- burnt district, and in honor 
of the commander of tiu- gunboat L 'oinniodort- Perry, 
was named Camj) I'lusser. Colonel Pickett taking 
command of the post, and Lieuicnant - Colonel 
Mouhfm. of lh«- Twcnt) tilth I\<-gini<-nt. 



2§tJi Reg I., Mass. Vols. 171 

On our arrival at Plymouth Companies A, G and 



K were highly complimented for their conduct at 
the Gully on the 13th, and they deserved it. ^^^^ Plymouth 
troops went to work at once on the fortifications ''^'^'«- 
just laid out for the defence of the town. A heavy Fortifi- 
detail was made from each company to work on the 
fort, besides the regular camp and picket duty ; and 
the pioneers went out daily to clear away the forest 
and get a good range for the guns. The pioneers 
often cut down trees four feet through, straight as 
arrows, and more than one hundred feet hi^rh. 

Refugees kept coming down the river, some from 
a distance of fifty miles, in their dugouts. Some of 

Refugees. 

these boats were quite large ; one, I remember, con- 
tained three men, three women and six children, 
with all their household effects. Most of these 
people were going to New Berne, having been 
driven from their homes on account of their Union 
.sentiments. 

As early as the middle of February we had found lyji^ 
wild flowers in bloom in New Berne — violets, myrtle, flowers. 
trailing arbutus and others ; and here, at Plymouth, 
the)' were very abundant. 

We had now been over five months without pay, 
and there was considerable o-rowlino- ; but unless to 



172 The Story of Company A. 

send it home, which many of us ditl. it was not of 



much account, really, for a soldier actually needs 
little money tor himself; still it was "convenient to 
have in the house." and we were paid shortly after, 
which made the hoys happy for a while. 

Our Camp I'lusser was luaiiy laid out. ami the 

(•j-»/ company tents were very comfortable. I'Vom the 

hittiur. j^yppj{ district we got boards for floors, raised our 

Sibley tents about three feet, putting a sort of cur 

tain of canvas around at the bottom ; this made the 

tents more roomy and very |)leasant. Hut this was 

not all. We stole, or rather, foumi, doors, which 

with a lillK' roui^di carpenter work wi- put in |>lace 

in our tciits. These doors liad knobs, ami the whole 

thinj^ worked admirabl). \\C did not L^tt aii\' door- 

■ bells for our tents, as it was liionght we could get 

along without llu-m ; l)ul think of it — soldiers witli- 

out door-bells to their tents ! 

We picked up while at Plymouth, as soldiers will, 
Pfti. many pets — a curious lot — stjuirrels. owls, raccoons, 
birds, and little darkies. th(! latter (juilt- useful in 
blacking shoes and such odtl jobs. Thc! habit of 
dipjiing snufT in the South has been sjiokcn of. 
One tlay a lillk- while girl |)asscd l)\ the camp, ami 
a soldier, observing a stirk protruding from h«'r 



2^t}i Rcgt.. Mass. Vols. 173 

mouth, asked, "What have you in your mouth little 

girl?" "My snuff stick," was the reply. "What, 
do you chew tobacco?" "Oh, no; I dont chew, I youthful 
dip." "How old are you?" "I'm seven," was the 
reply. What a sight was that. 

An effort was made while at Plymouth to get up 
another dance, and in looking about for a place a 
little brick church was selected. In the first place 
it was quite central, and then it was large enough ; 
so the church door was opened — whether with or 
without a key I do not remember — space was cleared 
of seats on the floor, candles obtained, fiddlers found, 
and all promised w^ell. Meantime a little incident 
was transpiring not calculated on by the getters-up 
of the scheme. A squad of soldiers had discovered 
at no great distance from our camp, a small house, 
in which was found that cheerful-looking carriag^e, „ ,. 

c> o Frolic 

the villag-e hearse. This was run out of the build- loith the 
ing ; it had a covered top and open sides, and a 
singular idea popped into the head of one of our 
boys. "I say fellers, suppose we run this team 
around towm and pick up the boys and take them 
to the dance." There were no horses, so two or 
three soldiers got hold of each thill, and "she is all 
right." One mounts to the driver's seat, and one 



1 74 The Story of Company A. 

crawls inside, smoking his pipe, saying. "I'll be the 



■'" first passenger." It was comical enough — a soldier 
stretched at full length, and smoke rolling out in 
pufls from the inside of that dismal-looking vehicle, 
all ready for a start. Hut sutlilenly a soldier j)uis 
in an apj)earance with "Look out hoys. Colonel 
Pickett has ordered the arrest of every man en- 
gaged in this church dance business. Take care 
of yourselves" ; and he took care of himself b)' dis- 
appearing around the corner. What a change was 
there. The driver got down Iroin his scat, and the 
passenger slitl out. making, as one expressed it. 
(|uickcr lime than was usual w iih passengers in iliat 
carriage, the hearse was taken back into the house. 
Ik* io\i. doors shut witli a hurrietl slam, and the boys dis- 
appeared to take care of themselves. It provetl as 
was said, that Pickett had ordered the arrest of all 
concerned. The lights were put out and the church 
closed ; •juiie a number of the men were arrested, 
and — Plymouth was saved. The upshot of the 
matter was a severe reprimand to those in cusiod\ 
— and that was enough. Die affair made some 
talk for a day or two. and Comrade Bolster jjro- 
jx)sed that, as ihcrc iiail been so much luss about 
it. w«- should |»i( k up th«- lilllc d — d church, and 



2§th RegL, Mass. Vols. 175 

send it home as a movicntnni of the occasion. This 



expression brought down the house — Bolster gen- 
erally did when he spoke. 

We found in Plymouth hand cards made at Leices- 
ter, Massachusetts, by Whittemore ; and it is a little 
singular that they were found by Leicester boys. 

While we were at Plymouth, Washington, North 
Carolina, was surrounded by the Rebels, who laid 
siege to the place with twelve thousand men. Gen- 
eral Foster was there with only twelve hundred men, "^""^^ °f 

Wash- 

but he held the place. A steamer with ammunition uigion. 
and a few troops run the blockade, and relieved the 
hard-worked garrison ; and General Foster run the 
gauntlet one night on the steamer Escort, with the 
loss of one or two men, and reached New Berne in 
safety, intending to return at once and relieve the 
place. This was not necessary, however, for the 
enemy had got enough of it, and one night raised 
the siege and vanished, leaving Washington and 
the Tar river free. This defence of Washington, 
though little talked about and little known, was 
a brilliant affair, and reflected great credit upon 
General Foster, and spoke well for the pluck and 
endurance of the men under his command. 
23 



176 J he Story oj Company . I. 

On the ^tl ol" May we wvn- relieved 1)\ W'essei's 



1863. 

lirigade, and at seven i*. m.. left Plymouth on the 

steamer Thomas Collyer, Commander Flusser and 
his sailors givinj^ us a display of fireworks with 
hearty cheers as we left the old town. We reached 
New Berne on the afterncxin of the 4th. after a de- 
lij^htful sail ; and on the 5ih of May had our tents 
pitched once more in old Canijj Oliver. 

As at Roanoke Island the boys had the fever for 
makinjjj briar wood pipes, so at New Berne the ra^e 
for bone-work jjrevailed to an alarminj^ extent during 
the remainder ol our sta\ at Camp Oliver. C(jmrade 
Henry Ciouldinj^^ was the most exjjert at this busi- 
ness, and turned out some really- very fine work in 
the shape of rinj^s, crosses, scarf-jjins. etc.. all l)eauti- 
fuUy carved. 1 his k-ver lor bone cutting pervaded 
the whole Regiment, and it served to while away 
many an hour of dull camp lift'. 

We hatl now been in the service of Uncle Sam 
^ . . over a year and a half, and in accorilance with orders 

Furhughi ^ 

received, we were having furloughs of thirl\ days 
granted us. a certain number from each company of 
the Regiment going, and on their return another 
lot departing, and so on. This was ver\ pleasant, 
and was encouraging to the soldiers. b'very man 



2Stli Regt., Mass. Vols. 177 

who returned from furloug-h would be surrounded 



by a crowd of soldiers eag'er to catch every word he 
uttered as he told the story of what he had seen at 
home. 

At midnight of May 21st we were on the march Another 
again, this time in the direction of Bachellor's Creek. '"'^'''^'^• 
We had been on the road about two hours, and the 
men were plodding along tired and sleepy, when an 
unusual noise was heard at the head of the column, 
and the men of the companies before us dropped 
out to the right and left of the road as though a 
squad of cavalry was charging down the line. Com- 
pany A did the same and those in our rear followed 
suit ; and in a moment, as it were, the road was 
clear of soldiers ; scarcely one man could be seen 
standing in it. In their precipitation the men fell 
helter-skelter over one another, and as they picked 
themselves up and got back to their places in the 
road again, the question was asked by every one: what 
"What was that?" and the answer, "What was it ?" ^'''^^■ 
Some declared they saw the form of a horse pass 
like a flash down the center of the road ; others 
thought it was a deer that had got frightened and 
dashed into the line ; and others saw nothing, but 
all got out of the way. The question "What was 



178 The Story of Company . /. 

it V has nevrr been satisfactorily answered. After 

the march was resumed, the men talked the affair 
t>ver. anil all declared they would not get out of the 
way aj^ain if the devil himself should come. 

We had not l)een half an hour on the roatl, and the 
men were j«^etting drowsy aj^ain, when a noise simi- 
lar to the first reached our ears from somewhere in 
advance, and a few soldiers were drojjj)in}^ out of 
,., i,, the road aj^ain from the companies ahead, and about 
■•■'■''' as (juickly as before. Hut Company A must have 
the cretlit of remaininj^ in line this time. *\Ve 
brought our ritles to the 'Charge bayonets' and 
waited for — nothing." h was real!) noliiing liiis 
lime, and the affair created a great deal of mirth as 
we proceeded on our way. 

At early daylight we came to a halt near the rail- 
road leading to Goldsboro'. In the mitldle of the 
afternocm we got on board a train of cars and moved 
some five or six miles towards (ioldsboro'. ami 
joining the Fifth amll wenty-seventh Massachusetts 
Regiments, marched to Core Creek anil bivouacked 
till midnight. The march was then resumed, the 
Twenty-fifth having the advance after crossing Core 
Creek. Compain K. Caj)tain Penny, was thrown 
out as advance guard, an»i we tnoveil on (juickly 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 179 

but quietly, with no signs of an enemy until about 



T Rfio 

4 A. M., when the advance run on to the Rebel 
pickets and drove them in. The Regiment now 
filed into a field on the right, and formed in line of 
battle. Companies K (Captain Denny) and E 
(Captain O'Neil) were sent out as skirmishers, and 
soon discovered a long line of earthworks, and both 
parties commenced firing. This continued two hours 

or more, when we heard loud cheering and volleys E.ngage- 

/- , . , , , ment with 

ot musketry m the enemy s rear, and we knew our^^^^^^^^^ , 
boys, under Colonel Jones, of the Fifty-eighth Penn- 
sylvania, were charging. Company A, Captain 
Goodwin, was now sent to join the skirmish line, 
which was advancing at double-quick; the line of 
defence was soon reached, and Company A swarmed co. a 
over the earthworks like bees ; and being attacked ^''^^ ^^ 

the earth- 

both in front and in the rear, the Johnnies were at works. 
a disadvantage. They scattered in every direction ; 
we took one hundred and sixty-five prisoners, and 
proceeded to destroy the works as best we could. 
We held the position, which was a strong one, until 

5 p. M., when the object of the expedition being 
accomplished, and as the enemy, having been 
strongly re-enforced, were coming down the rail- 
road, we commenced a retreat to Core Creek. 



1 8o Thf Story of Company A. 

The Tweniy-firih Rej^imciii. wiili a company of 

cavalry, and one piece of artillery, acted as rear 
j^uard. the enemy followinj^ close on our luels, sliell- 
in^ us but doinj^ no harm. We reached Core Creek 

rrtrtat. about lO I*. M.. and bivouacketl for the nij^iit. On 
the 231I we moved early in the direction of the rail- 
road, intendinj^ to take the train at liacheilor's Creek ; 
but a heavy force of the enemy was found posted 
on the railroad in our front, at the point where the 
road we were travelinj^ crossed it, antl we were fired 
upon from our ri^^ht, and in our rear they were close 
upon us. W'c wert! j^ettinj^f^ into a bad place, but 
our ariiller) wiili some trouble dispersed our op- 
posers, and we passed on. The enem\ were, no 
doubt, trying to cut us t)ff: \.o avoid this we matle 
quite a detour throuj^h what is. properly speakinj^. 
Dover Swamjj, but was then called "Cium .Swamp": 
and !))■ this name it will be always known lo the 
members of the TwentN-lifth Re<;iment. On Ua\ inj^ 
the road we jjlunj^ed at once into this swamp. Ii 
""^ was more than knee-deep with mud and water, its 

Swamf. 

bushes and brambles were interlaced with vines, 
and it was with lh<* j^reatest difficulty that we could 
cut our wa\ aloni^'. As hour after hour passeil it 
seemeil as if there was no end to it. Not a breath 



2^111 Rcgt.^ Mass. Vols. i8i 

of air was stirring-, and the sun poured down an 



intense heat upon us. The boys began to give out. 
The great cry was: "Water, water." We tried to 
strain the swamp water tlirough our handkerchiefs, 
but it was horrible and we could not drink it. I\iint- 
ing, panting for breath, struggling along, men 
dropped down where they stood, and it seemed 
impossible to get them any further. And yet, there 
was a sort of grim humor through it all ; the old 
jokes would occasionally come to the surface : "Why in Gum 
did we go for sogers," said one. "Give it up," was ^"'"'""P- 
the reply. "Because we were foolish cusses," said 
another. But no song enlivened this dreadful march 
through Gum .Swamp ; it took all the strength, all 
the pluck the men possessed to stagger along and 
keep their failing spirits up. Comrade Forbes, who 
had been detailed for hospital service, and had done 
little or no duty with the Company, was with us in 
the swamp, with a large box of medicines, etc., on 
his back. Doctor Rice, the Regimental Surgeon, 
was also here ; and, of course, all were on foot, and 
one man was as good as another. "I say, Forbes, 
you don't carry a rifle, but you have to carry the 
Doctor's pill box." "Yes, and I'd tote it to hell if 
only Old Rice had to go 'long afoot!" "Billy," said 



i82 The Story of Company A. 

another (to Hilly Lnoii), "don't \«»u wisli jou was 



^* liome?" "Hah! home is a fool to this place." 

Hut all this ceased alter a while, and no sound 
was heard save the sjjlashint( of the mud and water 
as we pushed slowly on. After some ft)ur hours of 
this dreadful marchinj^. the cry ran alonj^ the line: 
"The railroad ! the railroad ! " Ihis was j^ood news, 
indeed, and with desperate efforts we struggled on, 
Tkr.ui:k and were soon at the railroad, where we scrambled 
'^•"' '""/on to the freij^dit cars awaitinj^^ us, and like starvinj^ 
men ate the rations that were soon hroui^dit. We 
reached New Heme at 5 i*. .\!.. Saturday. May 2\(\. 
and were at home in Camp ( )liver. 

We marched lhirl\ miles on lliis e.xpedition. 
Several men had to l)e hroui^ht out ol the swamp 
on stretchers, and it was said that two or three died 
before they could Ix; j^ot out. .At liark ol tliis da)' 
the kebs. who had followeti us. allacketl our lorce 
at Hachellor's Creek. This ]h)sI was i^allantK de- 
fended, but Colonel Jones — he who was in commarul 
on this expedition — was shot ilead. 

In June of 1S63 the troops were employed in 
buildin;^^ f(»rtifications, and as the thermometer wouKI 
often show over one hundred in the shaile. work 
cea.sed durinj^ the hottest jiari of the da\ . This labor 



move. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 183 

in such extremely hot weather was very trying to 

the men, and the sick list was soon doubled. The ^ ^' 
daily drills were kept up, and the Twenty-fifth was 
never allowed to play second fiddle in that respect. 

On the 4th of July the Company was ordered to 
the breastworks near Fort Totten. A cavalry ex- 
pedition had started from New Berne, and the 
infantry were to stay in the fortifications until it 
returned, which it did on the 7th, and the Company 
marched back to Camp Oliver. On the 17th of 
July the Company went on another expedition. On the 
Crossing the Neuse river and landing at Fort An- 
derson, we marched at once into the country. The 
weather was intensely hot and the roads heavy with 
sand, making the marching very hard. We halted 
at an old, weather-beaten church, and from its pul- 
pit Comrade Daniel T. Eaton gave us a spicy tem- 
perance lecture. Meantime the cavalry passed us 
on a raid towards Tarboro'. They had with them 
very inoffensive looking machines with which to 
destroy railroads. They could with ease, they said, 
turn a red-hot rail into a cork-screw with them. 

Beyond some sharp skirmishing with the enemy 
nothing was done by the infantry. On our return 
24 



84 The Slory of Company A. 

march water ^ave out. Our canteens were squeezed 



ilry. and with j>archecl lips and swollen tonji^ues, 
we draj^j^ed alonj^ to i<>rt Anderson: l)Ut before 
we reached it many fell down into the hot sand 
from sheer exhaustion as we marched, ant! wiih 
difticully were made to move on. As we approached 
A Marj th<-' '^>''t the boys there saw us and took in the sit- 
"'-"■•* nation at a t^lance. They hatl pails of water ready 
for us. into which wx- thrust our faces as doj^s do 
into a runninj^ stream. The Nectar of the Gods 
was — cold water I .Xticr a sliori rest at the fort we 
recrossed the Neuse and were home aj^ain. Jul\ 20. 
Distance marched, thirty miles. 

.After a fi'w ila\s' rest (camj) duties jjerformeti 
and drill kej)t up), on jul\ 25th we were once more 
away, four companies. A. M, Ci aiKJ 11 i^oinj^r on 
board the steamer Ruckcr, and landin^^ Sunday, i-. m.. 
at Winton. on the Chowan river. We l)ivouacked 
on the banks of the stream, and siiortly after the 
cavalry arrived aiul started ofl on an expeilition to 
Sfoutin^. VVeldon. The next day Companies \ and K uniler 
Captain Tom O'Neil. started off on a scout to Cole- 
raine. and succeeded in capluriuL,^ lort\ horses, ten 
bales of cotton, six luuulred j)ounds ol tobacco, anil 
any numlx-r ol mules and < arriauics. while negroes 



i863. 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 185 

by hundreds tollowed us on our return march to 
Winton, witli Httle bundles tied up and swung on 
sticks over their slioulders, shouting "We's gwine 
to Hberty, hi-yah, gwine to h'berty ! " The negroes 
would stop w^ork in the fields, gaze at the Yankee 
column a few minutes, drop hoe or axe, and fling 
up their old hats and shout "Gwine to liberty!" 

" Gwine 

Their day had come at last. At some plantations /oA^^^r/y 
the mistress of the house would try to stop the slaves 
from leaving, but it was of no use. "Missis, we's 
agwine to liberty." On all the plantations no white 
men were visible — the darkies said "all in de Rebel 
army." A motley procession it was as we reached 
our bivouac at Winton. We had been thirty-five 
hours absent, and had marched thirty miles in twenty- 
four hours, actual marching time. 

The next day, Companies G and H, under Captain 
Harrington, started on a similar scout. They were 
gone twenty-four hours, and brought in twelve bales 
of cotton, twenty horses and mules with harnesses, 
etc.. and a large quantity of tobacco. July 31st we 
went on board transports again, and reached New 
Berne on the ist of Auenst. 

The month of August proved a sickly one for the 
Company. At times over twenty men would as- 



1 86 The Story of Company A. 

seniblc at surjjcon's call, and on one occasion at 



roll call, only sixteen men answered to their names 
for duly. At one lime Companies A and M were 
in Camp Oliver alone, jjart of the Rej^iment beinj^ in 
Washinj^ton, X. C. some on jjicket, some in hos- 
pitals and some on furlouj^h. I'.arly in St-ptcmher the 
Company was put on picket as^ain at the Red House. 
This old place looked like many a New Hnj^^land 
^. , farm-house. Surrounded by woods, and with while 
II u . tents on each side, it formed a pretty picture. We 
had for neij^hbors the (^ne-hundred-and-thirty-first 
New \()rk. This rtL^inu^nt had one company of 
(said to be) half-breed Indians; they proved to be 
good scouts hut poor soldiers. Amonj^^ the pets at 
this camp was a hu<^a* brown bear. 

One Sunilay it was announcetl that our Parson 

would pay us a visit witli his lady Sunday school 

teachers ; and it was exjjected that we would be in 

The condition to receive them. ICverythinq^ was j)ut in 

'"''*"* order, (luarters nicelv cleaned up, antl the men 

and kn ' ' ' 

i,.>.h,ry. looked very neat antl trim. Corporal Buj^bee. acting 
as provost, whose duty it was to keej) the <^rounds 
clean, was attendinj^^ to this as the waj^on containint^ 
the delej^ation hove in sij^ht, and he drew off his 
men. intendinj^ to complete the job later, while the 



25th Regi.. Mass. J'o/s. 187 

vehicle came up, and its precious freight entered 



T Rfio 

the Red House. Hours passed ; the soldiers waited 
patiently in their quarters, but no visitors appeared. 
Meanwhile a merr)- time they had in the house — 
judging from the peals of laughter frequently heard. 
"Guess they're praying, ain't they?" said one. "I 
reckon." said another. Corporal Bugbee in the 
afternoon started again to finish his work of clean- 
ing up the grounds, and was busy with three or four 
men when the wagon was brought up to take the 
part}^ back to New Berne. As the ladies stepped into incident 
the wagon one exclaimed, "Why. we have forgotten "^ ^^ 

I " o M tracts. 

the tracts ! "So we have, said another; and a 
bundle of tracts was thrown out on the eround 
"without note or comment." Corporal Bugbee 
quietly called one of his men. and said, pointing to 
the bundle, "Remove that to the rubbish heap ! " 
The soldier with his shovel scooped up the sanctified 
package, and "without note or comment," tossed it 
on to the dirt heap. The ladies looked at one an- 
other with astonishment depicted upon their fine 
faces, and drove off" amid such exclamations as 
"Did you ever." etc. We never saw our Parson or 
his teachers at any of our picket camps again. The 
men who witnessed this little incident enjoyed it 



i8S The Story of Conif^aux . /. 

much ; and by the twinkle ol his eye it was plain to 

see that the Corporal ap|jreciatetl the humor of the 
act. 

While on liuty at the Red House we hail ahunil- 
ance of fruit, especially j^rajjes. Just outside or 
beyond our outpost, at what was called the Shute 
place, was a ^rape-vine, on which Xwxw^ — so the 
boys reported — bushels of excellent grapes ; and 
jutlging from the t^rapes brouj^du to camp from this 
vine. the\- were correct. So one morninj^ the new- 
picket j^uard J^oing to relieve those on duty, took 
for each man two extra haversacks, and on reaching^ 
fruti. the outpost a squad was made up to visit the Shute 
place. The jjlantation was deserted and the house 
had been destroyed, but the j^rape-vine was there; 
and we saw at once that the stories told by the boys 
had not been exaj^j^e rated. Ihe vine was ol enor- 
mous size, j^rowinj^ over a trellis six or eis^du feet 
from the grounil, anil covered a space — to guess at 
it — of ten to fifteen feet wide and fifty or sixty feet 
long. It was loadcil down with th<- finest .Scup|)er- 
nongs. We jjosted our guard, and in a very short 
time hail ever)- haversack full besides our jackets, 
and jogged back towards our cam|) at the Red 
I loiisr. It was said that over forty bushels of grapes 



i863. 



Chills. 



2§fh Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 189 

had been picked from this vine in one season. The 
darkies told us : " Better not eat dose grapes. Gib 
you de chills." " Bah ! " said a soldier, "we'll eat the 
grapes and d — n the chills!" We did eat them, 
and we thouj^ht them healthy. The grapes actually 
seemed to cure those who had the chills. 

The people in New Berne said they tried to avoid 
the early morning air on account of the chills ; also 
the heat of the day and the night air, for the same 
reason. It may be that they were right, but we 
soldiers had to take it all in. Morning or night air 
or heat of the day — it was all the same to us; and 
though nearly all of us had chills, yet we surely did 
not have them worse or more frequently than the 
residents of New Berne. 

On one of the plantations in this neighborhood 
we found a girl fifteen years old, who said she had 
never been to New Berne, only eleven miles distant, 
and was hardly ever oft the old plantation, yet was 
never lonesome. Talk about a quiet life ! 

Life on picket at the Red House passed rapidly 
away. We were not often disturbed while there, ^^ j^^^^ 
though on October 2 2d, Dr. Rice and his orderly, capiured. 
Private Savage of Company A, were captured while 
riding from Red House to another picket camp in 



1 90 The Story of Cotupany A. 

hroatl tlaylij^lu. Ur. Rice was exchanged the next 

month, but Savage died a prisoner at Richmond. 
One nij.jhl we were turned out twice by shots fired 
in the woods near b\ . l>ui we had no serious trouble 
while here. We had now In-en two \ears in the 
senice of the United States. 

riu- month previous (September) Colonel Pickett 
assumed command of the sub-district of the Pamlico, 
from which he was relieved the following December. 
On the nii^dit of lii<' 24th of October, about 9 
o'clock, we left the Red House in heavy marching 
order, and j)roceeded to New Berne, about eleven 
,,;i miles, nv some mistake, it was said, wagons went 
to New Berne nearly emj>t)-, while the soldiers 
marched heavily loaded over the same road. \\'e 
reached N<\v Berne at ;; a. m. of the 25ih. and se- 
cured a coupl<' of hours' sleep in ami around our old 
cook house, the onl\ building on the ground besides 
the guard house. Ihe old camp ground looked 
deserted and dreary enough, not a lent standing 
where so many had stootl in months j)ast ; and the 
j>lace that had been our home so long was desolate 
indt'ed. At 5 i'. M. of the same tlay we got on board 
a train of freight cars, ami starleil for Beaufort, 
bidding good-bye forev(rr to old Camp Oliver. 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 191 

Camp Oliver had been in existence about sixteen 



months, and during a great portion of this time it 
had been occupied by some part of the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment ; and the boys had come to speak of it as 
home. 

It commenced to rain soon after leaving New 
Berne, and the train sped on through the mist and 
darkness, the boys feeling sober and wondering 
what would come next. Reaching Beaufort (or 
rather, Morehead City) we went on board our old 
steamboat, the .S'. R. Spauldiiig, which was crowded 
to its utmost. We made an attempt to put to sea, 
but were unable to get around Cape Lookout on 
account of heavy weather; so we anchored under 
the lee of the Cape, close to the lighthouse, for the 
night. Next morning (October 27th) we succeeded 
in doubling the Cape, and pushed on around Cape 
Hatteras (the fourth time for many of us) with fort- 
unately a comparatively calm sea ; and still on be- 
tween Capes Charles and Henry, entering Chesa- 
peake Bay. We went past Fortress Monroe where 
our fleet had its rendezvous when we started on the 
Burnside expedition, nearly two years before ; and at 
length reached Newport News at the mouth of the 
James river ; and on the 2d of November Camp 



192 The Story of Companx A. 

I'plon was fonnctl, iianictl alter our old Colonel. 



At this camp Dr. Rice retunict! to the Regiment, 
having been exchanged. 

When we first landed at .\ewj)ort News we had 
shelter tents given out to us. Tluse were strijjs of 
light canvas five or six feet square, with buttons ami 
button-holes around the edges. Two of these but- 
toned together and dr.iwn over a supjjort something 
like an A tent, formed a shellcr under which two 
men could crawl like dogs, their rubber blankets 
keeping them from the ground. A tents were given 
^""^ us later, and the place began to look iiK^re like a 
camji. As in New Berne we had raised the Sibley 
tents and added a curtain ol canvas, so here we 
built a kind of stockade of jjine slats — a narrow. 
rough sort of clapboard, six to eight inch<.'s wide 
and four feet long — and mounted the A tent on top. 
This made a roomy jjlace. but we had to stop the 
cracks with mud "to keep the wind awa)." These slats 
were cut from pine logs by the darkies, who chargeil 
us one dollar per humlred for those four feet long and 
a iloUar and a cpiarter for the six feet lengths. XWr 
had boys detailed to cut these slats, ami altera little 
jjractice some cut them as readily as the darkies, 
in the early part of December Colonel Pickett 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 193 



1863. 



returned to the Regiment and assumed command. 
While here at Newport News we had stoves in- 
troduced into some of the tents. They were tunnel- 
shaped, made of sheet iron, and had no bottom ; and 
were placed on the ground, the pipe going up 
through the top of the tent. They worked very 
well. In the Sergeants' tent we had a little coal 
stove that had followed us from North Carolina ; and 
Sergeant Wesson ("Rats") had found some hard 
coal in an old cellar-hole where a buildinof had been 
burnt close by, so with a coal fire we were kept very 
comfortable. At first it would smoke in spite of all 
we could do. Wesson tried everything he could 
think of to stop it, but to no purpose. We cut off ^ ^^gky 
an old boot leg and fitted it on to the top of the ^^^ve. 
pipe ; that worked well for a while, but the heat 
destroyed it. It was evident our pipe was not long 
enouoh — "That's what's the matter." We went 
outside to reconnoiter. Our neighbors' (next com- 
pany's) tent backed up to ours. Their stove did not 
smoke and their pipe was one section higher than 
ours. Rats put his fore finger to his nose and looked 
very wise, got a cracker box, placed it close to our 
neighbors' tent, mounted it, and with leather gloves 
quietly and quickly removed the upper section from 



94 ^^^ Story of Company A. 

llicir pipe and placed it on our own. \\ c rciircd to 



»^3- III II 

our lent and seated ourselves on our bunks to "wait 

the turn of events." Presently from our neighbors' 

tent: "Hallo. Company A Serj^eants ; how does 

your stove work ?" "First-rale, real comfortable; 

how does yours go ? " "It smokes like thunder!" 

They wi-nt out of their lent and we heard ihein 

Rati' discussing the state of atlairs ; wc slipped out and 

fra^tuai \\^[^^^.^\ ((, ([^^.\^ story, and when it was told Rats 

jokf. .... 

quietly remarked, "N'our j)ipe ain't long enough, 
that's what's the mailer." "1 vow. 1 thought our 
pipe ikUis longer than that." "li looks short com- 
paretl wiih ours." said Wesson, "you gel another 
length of pi|>t' ^y\^\ you'll be all righl. " We retired 
to our lent again, and soon we hear from the other : 
•W'tll. 1 don't understand liiis." "1 do." said Rats 
in a low tone; and he evidently did. ( )ur stove 
did not smoke an\' more but — Rats (lid. 

( )ne tlay a comrade rej)oried : "Sergeant. I've 
found a lot of bricks out here in the weeds (which 
were (juite high all around the camp); detail a 
squad of men to go and get em. anil we'll have 
Onrcvftt..;!^ f,;,f.fi and baked bcrt us tomorrow morning." 1 lie 
detail was matle ; and soon eight or len Compan\ A 
lx)ys were seen coming through liu- weetU. each 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 195 

loaded down with bricks ; and in a short time an 



oven was built, and we did have baked beans for 
breakfast the next morning, to the astonishment of 
our neighbors, who said, "That's it ; Company A 
always has the best of everything." Very true ; we 
did, but we got it ourselves. 

In plain sight at low tide, and but a few rods from 
shore, were the wrecks of the frigates Congress Wrecks. 
and Cumberland sunk by the Rebel ram Merrimack; - 
also the two-turreted monitor Roanoke, and later 
the captured Rebel ironclad Atlanta. 

At a review early in December General Foster 
bade his old soldiers farewell, in consequence of his 
transfer to another department ; and Major-General 

^ -' Gen. B.F. 

Benjamin F. Butler assumed command. . General BtitUr. 
Heckman, formerly Colonel of the Ninth New Jer- 
sey, took command of our brigade, which was known 
as "Heckman's Flying Brigade," sometimes spoken 
of as the "Red Star Brigade," from the flag at head- 
quarters. It was a severe blow to the old North 
Carolina soldiers to lose General Foster, but he had 
the good wishes of every man of his old command. 
While at this camp sickness thinned our ranks to a 
great extent, and Company A on occasions turned 
out but twenty-three men for duty. 



CIIAPTIR X. 

CAMl'. M.\k( H. AM) lUVOUAC:. 

W'- ''-^^^'^ now followed Company A from tlu* 

mustcT-in at Camp IJncoln to Camp l'])i()n in 
X'ir^inia. \\ «■ have seen the Company in camp, 
in battle, on the march, and in bivouac ; we have 
seen how the men behavetl under the most tryintr 
circumstances. Let us now leave them for a while 
in comfortable cpiarters at Camp Upton, and look a 
little closer into the daily life of the soldier in active 

f ,, service, livery veteran has ha( . scores ol times, 

of loldirr J ' 

/'/«•• questions askeil him which show hillc knowledj^e 
of soldier life on the j)arl of llu- iiKpiirrr. and whicii 
seem to one familiar with it hardly worth answi-rini;; 
but comrades must re'membcr that our chiKircn. as 
well as the j^reat mass of the jjeople. know as liitic 
of these thinj^s as we ourselves did at the start ; and 
it may Ix* well to satisfy their in(|uiri<s. oltcn <\- 



2sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 197 

pressed, as, How do soldiers prepare for an expedi- 

tion ? How do they march, sleep and eat, build 
fires in stormy weather? etc. In attempting to an- 
swer, the simplest way, perhaps, will be to describe 
soldier life in camp and bivouac, and on a march. 

When we speak of a camp, the idea suggests 
itself at once of a soldier's home, to a certain extent 
permanent ; while bivouac is at the most but a tem- 
porary halt or rest. In camp we expect to find 
comfortable tents pitched in regular order, company 
streets formed, good quarters for cook houses, 
grounds in perfect order for parades and the like ; 

. . Camp vs. 

while m bivouac no tents are pitched, and none are bivouac 
carried on marches in war time. In active service 
on a march there is no time to fool away pitching 
tents, and we expect, at most, only a few hours' 
rest. It may be — and usually is — for the night, but 
all are ready to move at a minute's notice. In camp 
the soldier gradually gathers all sorts of conven- 
iences around him ; in his tent we often find board 
floors, stools and benches made of cracker boxes, 
and very comfortable bunks to sleep in. In bivouac 
all these are done away with ; the soldier sleeps on 
the ground rolled in his blanket, as best he can. 
He cooks his coffee in bivouac — every man for him- 



198 The Story of Company A. 

self — while in camp the ccMiipany cooks attend to 

all that. 

In a wet, swampy country bivouacking is wretclied 
business; but on any dr\' ground it is certainly su- 
perior to tentin}^^ and is the healthier of the two. 
The A tents, which held six men with all their 
equipments, were close, stiflin<^ thinj.;s at best ; the 
Sil)ley tents were much sujK'rior. l)(in<^ hii^her and 
more air)'. 

In startint( from camj) on a march — say at 4 \. m. 
— the conijjany cooks are ordered in atlvance to have 
itoMs/or rations reaily at the proper time ; and they arc ready, 
•-■■- even if it takes all nij^dil to do it. The men are 
iDUsed. and j^o to the cook house to draw their 
rations of cooked meat, hard bread, j^round coffee, 
and suLjar — perhaps three days' allowance: aiul (a 
ver)' important item) the canteen is filletl with cold 
water. The sokliers don ihei^ e(|iiipments. tonn in 
the company street in two ranks, ami count oft so 
that each man will know his place in marchinj^ by 
the llank in fours. The comj)any is then marched 
to the paraile ground, where the reijimental line is 
formed. In leavinj.^ the camp it is by the tlank in 
fours. No music accom|)anies the soldiers on these 
marches, so no attempt is maile at keej)ins^^ stej) ; 



2^tJi Regt.^ Mass. Vols. 199 

but the order "Route step" is given, and the men 

"go as you please," the fours simply keeping to- 
gether and marching abreast. The order "Arms at 
will" follows, and the men carry their rifles in the ™ 

■' J he ivai 

most comfortable way, at "right shoulder shift" gen- they 
erally ; and go jogging along, talking, laughing, ""^'^'^ ' 
-telling stories, etc. At the proper time the order 
"Halt" is heard, and every man is in his place with 
rifle to the shoulder ; "Front," and like a machine 
the men face to the front, and the regimental line is 
formed, every man in the same position he was 
when he started. At a halt every soldier looks out 
for his own rifle and never loses sieht of it ; it must 
be within reach at any time and all the time ; but at 
a bivouac for the night, when safe to do so, guards 
are posted and the guns are stacked. The men go 
for water and wood — rails, usually ; fires are quickly 
built, and as quickly covered with tin cups filled 
with water from the "old canteen" if it contains any, 
if not, a search is made for some. 

The boys are about making coffee. Shall we see 
how they do it ? Fire of fence rails to start with — 
fence rails make the best possible fire for cooking 
coffee at a bivouac. Now the tin cup, holding a 
quart, filled with water, is placed on the fire. Now 
26 



2CXD The Story of Company . /. 

two t)r more hcapiiiLI lablc-spoonfijls of j^round 

cort'cc is adtlfil (I'ncU* Sam used to J^ivc his boys 
excellent coffee in the army). Stir j^^ently and waich 
carefully. See the rich j^olden color as you keep 
stirring. Watch the bubbles as they aj)jjear ami 
disappear on the surface of this amber-colored sea. 
Now j^ently j)Ut in sui,Mr as you may desire. .Still 
stirrinj^ it be^^ins to boil. .Saints anil Ministers of 
Cirace ! What an aroma is that which j:;;reets our 
expectant nostrils. Odors from Araby th(r blest — 
incense to the j^ods ! .Steady now — it must not boil 

maktH- '^^ '^^"R- Insert your bayonet into the hole in the 
handle of vour cujj — a hole you puncheil llicre lor 
this \v\\ jjurpose — and lift it with its IraL^ratu. 
steaminj^ contents from the fire. Now Iroin the 
old canteen throw iti a dash of cold water to settle 
it. and — it is done. .Now for the haversack. .Salt 
horse and hard-tack — usuall\ with something bet- 
ter;* it de|)ends somewhat on the country we have 
been travelin<( throuL,di — and with a soldier's staving 
appetite, what a suppirr is that ' K it tin- a^^U-v , nr 
ajjpeiiic. or both ^ 

• ><>inr(ifiic'> .1 IcH "iMiiiiis iir ;i int ni i ;iiiii;\f^c ti.\» r i>fiMi i.irritu l.^r iiiin-'» 
in Ihc havcrvxck, and iidw they Murk in lirM-rAtr. TIktc ts a place tu c.it 
uniun» ami cablia|;c — around thr liivou.-ic lire. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols, 201 

Sometimes a soldier will accidentally hit a rail 

with his foot, shaking" the contents of all the tin 
cups. What a rumpus follows. "Get out of that" , 

^ A rumpus 

says one. "Can't you pick up your cracker boxes 
(brogans) easier than that?" says the second. 
"Look at the cuss, trying- to run his gunboats (bro- 
gans again) around the camp fire." A shower of 
such talk greets the ears of the unlucky offender, 
who for a while keeps quiet, to say the least. 

Now it is time to turn in and get some sleep if 
possible. Let us step out from the glare of the fire- 
light into the darkness, and look at the scene before 
us. How strongly the features of the men are 
brought out by the light of the blazing fire. What 
healthy brown faces they are. In paintings we ^ ^^^^ 
have such scenes as this, but this is the living pic- «^ ^^^ 
ture. 1 he nres are burnmg low, but here and there 
the smoke is still curling gracefully up in the cool 
night air ; and now, as some one stirs up the smolder- 
ing embers and puts on fresh rails, a shower of 
sparks, like golden bees, floats quietly away as the 
spray of a fountain in the sunlight. Here is a sol- 
dier by himself smoking his pipe, and no doubt 
thinking of home ; there are two fellows — chums — 
curled up together spoon-fashion, with their feet to 



202 The Story of Company A. 

tin iiit . ca|:)es of their overcoats drawn over their 

heads, sleepinj^ as quietly as kittens ; others are 
talking in a low tr)ne of a face they miss to-nij^^ht — 
cuface they will never see more arouml ilu- l)iv(»uac 
fire. They j^radiially become silent, and roll them- 
selves in their blankets and ovj-rcoats. aiul sleep. 
Thus the men tlisappear. the fires are left to burn 
themselves out. and silence reigns over the sleeping 
bivouac. 

Some sleep on their backs ; others sleep on their 
sides, usinj,,^ cartritlLje b(j.\ for pillow ; others roll up, 
, ' three or four totjether, the last man in tucks up the 
rest antl then wrii^'^j^'^Ies his way into the middle ; and 
all have their rubber blankets to lay on the j^round. 
The old soldier, if left to himself, selects at once 
the best place to spread his blanket, his first j)oint 
being protection Irom rain and wind ; and a rubber 
Ijlankel is admirably adapted for the purpose — all 
sorts of shelters can Ix- matle with it. 1 ilo not see 
how the soldiers coukl have got along without their 
"gum blankets." as the Johnnies called therm. 

In seeking shelter from the wind your old soldier 
woultl not select a |>lace under a tree. It is a mis- 
take often made by the inexperienced soldier to 
choose a spot to s|)reatl his blanket under some 



2StJi Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 203 

large tree, with dense foliage above but no pro- 

tection from the wind below ; and this protection 
from the wind that blows is what he wants. The 
veteran finds some thick low bushes through which 
the wind cannot easily penetrate, or rigs up his 
rubber blanket in some sheltered spot, so that 
it will serve as a screen or shield. The tree 
would give him a sort of roof, which is not needed 
in a clear, windy night. A man sleeping on the 
ground lies pretty flat and takes up little room, so 
that any thick shelter that is knee-high is shield 
enough from any wind that blows, provided the wind '^'^^''^'' "^^ 
cannot blow through it. I have made a good shel- 
ter by cutting down bushes and sticking them in 
the ground thickly together. We used to think 
when lying on the ground with the enemy's shot 
and shell flying over us, that we could lie as thin as 
a plank ; some thought as thin as a board ; while 
Comrade Bolster declared that he could lay as thin 
as a shingle ; but when the bullets pierced the very 
caps on our heads, taking a lock of hair by which to 
be remembered, we wished we could lie flatter than 
that. 

If it be a rainy night it is the roof over his head 
the soldier wants ; and here, again, the rubber 



204 The Story of Company A. 

blanket comes in pla\ . We have- scc-ii how. at New 

Berne, the soldiers made sheUers from the rubber 
blankets to the best advantaj^e. aiu! ii lucd not be 
repeated here. The rubber blaiikei in those days 
was two yartls lonj^. a yard ami a <iiiart<T wide, and 
weij^hed three |>oiinds. It was indeed the soldier's 

xviJttt* Iriend. IIk- woolen blanket weighed about fixe 

trttmi. po^ji^^jv; 3p^j measured two and a (]uarter by one 
anil three (juarte-rs yards. 

rh«'n- are more ways than one to |)repare a place 
to sleep on the j^round. ll is true an old soldier 
can sleep anywhertr — on a j)Iank. or on a rock even ; 
but he will not if he can do an\- belter — he will take 

//.m. A. jj^^ \^itvx of what there is e\er\ tini<'. There is a 
way to sleep comtortabl)- on dr\ i^round. "I was 
once spreading my rubber blanket on the t^^round 
preparini^ to turn in. when an old soldii-r from 
another regiment, who was passinj^ by. said : il you 
want to sleejj well, dij^^ a place for your hips, man.' 
I looked up, and he continued : '.Scooj; out a |)lace 
for your hips three or four inches deej). and ant)ther 
about half as deep for your shoulders, ilu-n sj)read 
your rubber and lie in the hollows, and you'll Awy 
like a top. sir.' I thanked him and lollowetl his 
advice, antl eertainly ncNcr slej)t so well on a marih 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 205 

before." The point seems to be "Make the bed 

fit your body," not your body fit the bed, as it would 
have to on any hard surface Hke a board or hard 
ground. But this cannot always be done, so the 
soldier must try other ways. If a fellow is lucky 
enough to find two logs, he can have a capital place 
for his blanket between them, and they will keep 
the wind off. 

There are pleasures in bivouac that are entirely 
lost in camp or tent life. There is no mistake about 
it, a man breathes better ; and it is a pleasure to lie 
half asleep and listen to the sounds of life around 

• 1 .11 • r 1 , Pleasures 

on every side; watch the motions of the men, and 

•' of the 

hear them talk, joke or sing as they move about the bivouac. 
fires, smoking as they always do at such times ; and 
later, to awake when the fires are low, and all sounds 
of man are hushed, to hear the wind p-o murmuring- 
by, and watch the stars in a beautiful, clear night ; 
or to catch the lonely cry of some swift-winged 
night bird as it flies quietly past, or, may be, hear 
the voice of a wild animal froni afar off; and then 
the sleeper's eyes close dreamily to open no more 
till the bugle sounds reveille. All this is impossible 
in tent life. 

But there is a reverse side to this : say a freezing 



206 Thf Story of Company A. 



cold nijjht. as on our niiirii march from Ciolclsboro*. 

when the water froze in the canteens iintler our 
heails as we lay on the j^aouml with our trrt lo the 
fire : or at other times when we had to walk about 
all nii^ht to keep from hein*^ chilled ihrouj^di : or 
aj^ain. cokl. stormy nights, with the j^round soaked 
with water, and the rain fallinj^ do^jrctHy all night 
Tfvtru lonjjj. These are certaini)' not pleasant pictures 
"^*- to contemplate ; but still, the soldier with a j^^ood 
rubber blanket, a thick, warm woolen one, and a 
stout overcoat, is pretty well prepared for an)- sort 
of weather: and then, there are more pleasant, com- 
fortable nii^dits than stornn ones, more warm ones 
than cold ; aiul. i;iven. tents crowdeil to suffocation, 
or a chance in the open air. I think most soldiers 
would prefer the latter. 

After all. it is coming pretty near nature, this 
bivouac life ; and men t;et thoroughly saturated with 
that spirit of wikl freetlom that possessed the old 
freebooters. It is easy to set- how soldiers long 
absent from home, uniler a beloved and victorious 
commander, could be led almost anywhere — no ex- 
pedition would be too hazardous. Witness the 
legions of Ale.xander and Hannibal, anti the armies 
of Xapok'on. 



2^tli Regt., Mass. Vols. 207 

On marches orders are sometimes issued against 

foraging. This is very good. "Private property to 
be respected," etc. Quite right. Such orders are yr^ • 
always obeyed in a general way ; but suppose a 
soldier docs pick up a pair of chickens, what then ? 
An instance of this. On a certain march in North 
Carolina orders had been given that there must be 
no foraging. We all understood it. One day at a halt 
late in the afternoon, a soldier came slowly up to 
the fire, rifle on his shoulder with a ham stuck on 
his bayonet, and a pair of chickens in one hand. 
At this moment who should appear but the Colonel 
himself, riding slowly along the line ; and meeting 
the foraoer face to face. We expected there would 

'~ Caught in 

be a scene — and there was. "\\1iat did you pay the act. 
for chickens to-day, my lad ?" asked Colonel Pickett. 
"1 didn't pay nothin' for 'em, sir." It was easy to 
see that the Colonel was anything but angry, but it 
would not do to show it ; so, severely : "You heard 
the orders against foraging?" "Why yes sir, I did," 
said the man, standing erect in the position of a 
soldier, with the chickens still hanging by his side, 
and the ham sticking on his bayonet ; and he ex- 
pecting to have his head taken off right there. It 
was too comical a sight ; the Colonel could not stand 
27 



2o8 Tlu Story of Company A. 

it, but ag^ain speakinj^ as severely as he could while 

trying to sujjjjress laughter, saiil : "Weil. Itl bear it 
in mind alter this." and he rode away ; but gave a 
jjarting shot at the forager as he disajjpearetl : "I 
hojje you'll have a good sujiper to-night. " ' Tiiank 
you. sir." and he dropjjed the chickens and saluted 
the Colont-l in trut- military st)le. 

Now the Colonel could have had the chickens 
taken away from the soldier. j>laced him under ar- 
rest, and on our return to camp made an example 
of him for "disobeying orders," The effect would 
have been that the soklier would have borne it with 
a dogged indifference, and r\tr alter would have 
Efintnt foraged e\ery chance he got ; as it was, the soldier 
rrfroof. ^^s puuished enougli. lie had been rej)rimanded 
by the Colonel before his comrades ; there was no 
chance for him to be defiant about it : and jxrhaps 
worst of all. he was expected to have a good supper 
off the chickens the Colonel knew he hatl disobeyed 
orders to get. "C*ot off eas\ this time, didn't you?" 
said one. "Should think 1 tlid. Wish to (iod he'd 
taken the chickens though." was the rej)ly. No 
more foraging b\' that soklier. on that tramp to sa)' 
the least. This was anolheT instance ol "not seeing 
too much ' on the |);irl ol the commander. That 



2^th Regi., Mass. Vols. 209 

soldier no doubt had a good chicken stew that nitrht; 

and quite hkcly he sent a (hshful to the Colonel's 
fire, and probably the dish was returned empty, with 
thanks ; and yet the army was perfectly safe. 

What troubles soldiers the most on a march is the 
want of water, and this is often hard to be borne. 
Then, again, water obtained on marches is generally 
vile stuff to drink. We had to get it where we could 
— from ditches by the wayside, swamps, and sluggish 
streams ; and we had a variety of colors and tastes, ^^ater. 
To offset this we often resorted to the trick of 
putting a couple of spoonfuls of ground coffee into 
our canteen of water, and in a short time we had a 
canteen of cold coffee — at least the coffee taste 
proved stronger than that of the bad water ; and we 
flattered ourselves that it was better for us. 

To go without one meal was passed over as a 
joke, and we pulled the old waist-belt tighter ; but 
to be without water on a march under a burning- 
sun in Carolina w^as terrible. When a column is 
marching it is not so easy to get water as a novice 
would think. A man will take a dozen canteens, 
and, leaving his rifle to be carried by a comrade, 
will start for w^ater. Now if he succeeds in finding 
water readily, and enough of it, he is very lucky ; 



3 lo The Story of Company A. 



but even then he has a tedious job to get it. for can- 
teens fill slowly, ami when lie has iheni full he has 
a heavy weight to carr\ . and lioes not feel like taking 
a "double-cjuick" back to his company. He places 
the canteens, some over his shouUlers to hang on 
each side, and carries some in each hand ; and when 
he regains the roatl he fnuls that the column has 
been moving all the time, anil his regiment may be 
one. or even two miles away, and he must move 
laster than his comratles in onlcr lo overtake them; 
so that when he reaches his own company he is 
certainly more lireil than those who sta)e<.l in the 
column. It is this hanl work lo "catch uj) ' ihat 
keeps many horn dropping out who n-alh neetl a 
rest. 

Another thing that troubles soldiers on a march. 

especialK" if it is a forceil march or one of any great 

FO01 '^'"^th, is sore, chaletl feet. One might think old 

irouhUs. soldiers woukl never be troubled that wa\ , but they 
are — some more than others, to be sure — but with 
getting the feet wet in crossing streams antl again 
marching on roads heav\* with sand, "which works 
into the brogans and fuuls |)l(iu\ of room," llu- leet 
will get sore in sj)iti' of the best ol care. As a cav- 
alry soKlirr looks alter his horse, so an inl.iiUrx' 



2^fh RegL, Mass. I'ols. 211 

soldier looks out tor his feet ; and to obviate this 

trouble various expedients were tried, such as rub- 
bing- the inside of the stocking with soap or tallow, 
which helped the matter some ; but it had to be 
borne as best it could. The simple changing of the 
stockings from one foot to the other while on a 
march, was often a relief to the hot and blistered 
feet. 

As may be supposed, it is not the easiest thing in 
the world to build a fire while on a march, and in Building 
stormy weather ; and not every soldier is a good 
fire-builder, but there were some who could build a 
fire an)\vhere and at any time. Nobody seemed to 
have matches, but they were always forthcoming 
when wanted, from some place unknown. But it 
requires a deal of skill and patience to coax the 
flame of a lucifer into a camp fire. Very few can 
do it — not more than halt a dozen men in a company 
are good at building fires ; and there is most always 
one who is the boss hand at it. He will build a fire 
with everything "w^et as thunder," and no fuss about 
it either. He will always find dry twigs somewhere, 
and his fire is always going first and burns the best. 
He must have a gift that way. 

The same with foraging. Some are "born so." 



2 1 2 T/w S/ory of Company A. 

These fellows woukl make a bee-line lor ainihinj^ 

in the way of eatables, from any bivouac, in the ilark- 
esi nijjlil that ever "blew," !*eojjle in the South 
hat! a way of buryinjj sweet potatoes in the j^round 
for winter use. These chaps would ^o direct to 
these places in the dark, as ihoui^h they had buried 

fmtmitf. the potatoes there themselves. So witli water. 
I have seen a fellow start as soon as we had come 
to a halt, take a tin cup and a few canteens, and 
strike ri<.;^ht out into the blackest nij^hl. and in 
twenty or thirty minutes return with plenty of water. 
He took no thouj.,du al)out it. made no intjuiry, l)Ui 
went straight for it. and always was successful. 1 
ilid not understand it — 1 do not now ; ii was. and is 
to-da\' to me a msslcry. These men were iinalu- 
able to a compan\ — lhe\ mii^hl be called comj)any 
bummers. Notable amonj^ those belonging to 
Compan\ .\ were jimmv Wesson ami Moses P. 
Brown. 

(ioulding was the story-teller. Our orderly. Jack 
Story- Johnson, was also prominimt in this line. My stars I 

t ertan j_^^^^^, j^^. woultl tell stories — briuLT down the house 

t$mger$. -^ 

every time. Alas I Toor Jack has gone where — 
well. 1 don't think they tell any stories there ! Then. 
of course, ilnre were singers. T",. H. T'airbanks. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 213 

T. M. Ward ("Artemas" we called him) and Charles 

B. Kendall stood here alone. Of course all hands 
could sinu- when occasion recjuired, but the three 
mentioned were real singers, with fine voices. And 
what did soldiers sing? We had old Negro melo- 
dies, college songs, and well-known patriotic airs, 
as well as gems from the operas. But many of the 
very popular songs we did not have until brought 
to us by recruits. The last years of the rebellion 
were much more prolific of war songs than the early 
period. 

Perhaps the most popular were those in which we 
all could join. "John Brown" was a famous one, Army 
and everybody could sing that as all army songs ^°"^^' 
w^ere sung — after a fashion. Then tnere was that 
very affecting one, in which all could join if they 
chose : v 

Oil, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness, 
Out o' de wilderness, out o' de wilderness ; 
Oh, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness. 
Bleating like a lamb. 

{^Chorus) B-a-a-a-a-a-h ! 0-o-o-o-o-o-h ! 

Bleating like a lamb, bleating like a lamb ; 
Oh, ain't I glad to git out o' de wilderness, 
Bleating; like a lamb. 



2 1 4 y/te Story of Company A. 

1 wciu down lown in a three ox wugi>n, 

A three ox «iragon. a three ox wagon ; 
I went cl«»wn t«»wn in a three ox wagon. 
Hleating hke a lamb. 
H-a-a-a-a-ah ! etc. 

There was no ciul to this sonj^ ; verses were often 
inaile up as they went alon^. 
Another sonj^ was : 

'I'hree l»la«k rrows sat on a tree, 

And they were Mack as black coiiM l)e. 

Army These hnes were repeated by one comrade, and then 

One black crow said unto hi> inair. 
What shall wc do lor food id ale r* 

And so on until some one started anotlicr. This 
"round" lor as many as chose to join was a jjoj^idar 
one, and was usually starteil hy Comrade (iouldini^^ 
'I^hus : 

Uncle Abraham, Lnt le Abraham. 
Sleepest thou ? sleepest thou ? 
While the j,'irls are eating, 
NVhilc the girls are eating 
I'umjikin pie, pumpkin |iie. 

And so on. repeatintj, till all wi-re tired out. 

Annie Laurie was a ^reat favoritr-. Others were 
Old Hinulre-d, .Star .Spanj^detl lianner. and \<v(\. 



25tJi Regt. , Mass. P'ols. 2 1 5 

White and Blue, as a matter of course. Comrade 

Bolster, with his rough, comic songs, always created 
much fun around the bivouac fire. Comrade Henry 
Goulding had a way of singing a few snatches of 
old songs, which always brought a laugh when the 
men were tired and cross, and good humor followed. 
Here is one : 

Oh, I'd pay ten dollars down, 

And give it mighty free 

If I could only find out ^''^^ 

Who chucked that shell at me. '"""S'- 

This is another : 

The corporal stole a chicken, 
And the captain thought it wrong ; 
So to punish him he made him 
Pick it all night long. 

The quaint humor of Comrade Goulding was 
really a boon to Company A. 

It is amusing to think now how ignorant we all 
were of soldier life at the start. We had somehow 
an idea that a soldier must be all the time on the 
move, marching or fighting ; and to be weeks or 
perhaps months without one or the other was not 
thought of. 

It is interesting to note the difference in the arms 
we used and those of to-day. Our old Enfield 
28 



2 i6 The Story of Company A. 

rilWs wtTf muzzle- loaders, about five ieet lonj^ aiul 

Nveij^hed nine and a hall pounds, includinj^a ramrod 
three feet three inches lonjj. which weij^hed ten 
ounces. The whole thinj^ was clumsy and awkward 
EmfitU in ^^ extreme. The cartritls^a* was of paper ami 
ri^ti. contained a conical leatlen ball weii^hinj^ an ounce. 
These cartridi^es we tore open with our teeth, pour- 
inji^ the powder down the rifle barrel, and sentling 
home the bullet with the pajjer for watlllin«^^ j,^()ini( 
throu<^di the tedious jirocess of drawins^^ antl re- 
turninj^'^ ramrcnl. llow different the modern bnech- 
loader with its metallic cartridL,^c. and so lij^lu. no 
clums\- ramrod, no |)ercussi()n caps, antl so easily 
ma nailed. 

Inexperience tauj.,du us that bij^ knives ami re- 
,, . volvers were useless lumber for a itrivate soldier. 

Vteleis ' 

lumbfr. anil we st)on learned what a (juantit) of stuff was 
absolutely worthless for a soldier's use. We will 
suppose him to be on a march. The clothes he 
stands in, rifle and e(|uiijments. canteen. ha\(*rsack 
containinj^ plate, knife, fork and spoon, ami his 
rublxT blanket (sometimes a woolen one also), are 
all the old soldier will carr\ . and these are often 
retluced in (juantity. for a pound at the start may 
seem ten pounds ixlon- he reaches the bivouac at 



2^tJi Rcgt. , Mass. Vols. 2 1 7 

night. In summer time the scorchinor sun, and 

roads heavy with dust or sand made it very tedious 
marching;, while in winter, wind, rain and cold are 
equally disagreeable. 

The distance marched in a day by foot soldiers is 
often commented upon on account of the few miles 
traveled. A man, it is said, can walk forty miles in 
a day. True, a good walker might do it, but he is 
one man, p-oes as he pleases, and has no heavy load „. 

•^ * ■' Distance 

of rifle, etc., to carry. To march a brigade in a day marched. 
as far as one man can walk is simply impossible. 
The more men. the less number of miles traversed. 
It is cfood marching for a regiment to travel two 
miles an hour for the day, and twenty miles in ten 
or twelve hours is more than the average. A col- 
umn of cavalry would hardly move over four miles 
per hour. If the moving column is a large one the 
regiments in advance may be miles on the road be- 
fore those in the rear are in motion ; and the fre- 
quent halts caused by crossing streams, accidents, or 
for the purpose of rest, are very harrassing to the 
soldiers in the center or at the rear of the column. 
The head of the column is the best place to march. 
The road is clear for one thing, and there are none 
to stir up the dust; and when the order "Halt" 



2 i8 Tlu Story of Compatty . 1. 

comes, those in advance lui\e full benefit. k>r iliey 

drop at once to the j^rounil and are J^ettinj; tlie rest 
they all need while the ortler is runninj^ down the 
line ; anil by the time those in the rear receive the 
<»rtl<-r tli«- head of the cohimii is inovinij aj^ain, 
' Then those in advance would be more likeK to 
reach their bivouac first, and have their fires l)uih 
and coffee made l)elore the others, which is a |^ood 
point ; but the rei^iment or briu;atle in advance to- 
ilaN may be in the rear lomorrow so th<\ cvcti thi- 
thinj^ up in a way. 

l*erha|js a t;ood itlea of a column on a march may 
be had by fancyinL,^ a dozen miles of road in our own 
section filled with an almost soliil mass ot movinj^^ 
men. witii batteries intcrminj^letl in the line, and 
ambulances, ammunition and baj^j^a^^^e wai^ons in 
the rear, while a cloud of cavalr)' rides on in ail- 
vance. h is easy to see that the advance would 
have the best position and the least anno\ance on a 
march. 

As the hours o(» by and the s(»KIiers i^row tired. 
the men so jolly at the start, sober down ; arul as 
darkn<'ss comes on there is little talkini^ e\ce|)i lo 
j^rowl. and wonder "'whv in — ihunder don'l liny 
give us a n-st?" and nolhinj^ is heanl besides but 



2^th I^t\i^f., Mass. JWs. 219 

the rattling of tin cups and canteens, and the tramp, 

tramp of the weary thousands. At these times 
there is a deal of thinking done — sober thinking 
about home, its comforts, friends, and the like ; and ^. _, 

Ttnd 

the monotony is broken after a while by such ex- soldiers. 
pressions as "Wish I was h-o-m-e." "Me, too." 
"Same here." "I'm another." etc. Soon some one 
tells a story, or gets off a stale joke, or strikes up a 
song, and the spirits of the men lighten up again. 
Soon comes the welcome order "Halt." 

Although we were always provided with cooked 
rations on a march, still it would happen sometimes 
that we run short, and then we tried our hands at 
cooking a bit. \ow hard-tack, unless a fellow is 
pretty hungr\', is mighty poor fodder ; but we on Uses of 

11 • •, ■ 1 • \' • hard-tack. 

occasions would improve it in cooking. \ arious 
dishes can be made from the omnipresent hard-tack. 
Soaked in cold water it becomes soft and puffy ; now 
drop it into a pan of hot bacon fat and iry a few 
minutes, and tell me. if you have been a soldier, is 
it not a dish fit for a king — if he is a hungry one ? 
Soaking hard-tack in hot water would spoil it — make 
it leather)- and tough. Then we made a sort of 
pudding of it, and also the "slapjack sublime. ' 
Sometimes the hard-tack was wormv ( rare ex- 



2 20 The Story of Compatiy A. 



ceplion ), bill thai was no clclriiiiciu. lor llicii \vc had 

meal pudilinj^^s. The iiihahiianls of the hard-tack 
were curious creatures — some had lej^s. some wings, 
and some had both ; and it was very lunny to see 
one tr)' to crawl one wa\ with its lej^s ami l1\ tlu- 
other way with its winj^s. Hard-tack poundi-d iip 
fine and lioiled with bits ol l)acon. j)Otato. or an\- 
thing the solilier hajjpenetl to have, and salted a bit, 
gave us a sort of skouse — "slosh" we sometimes 
called it. Skouse. like the m\sterious hash of civil- 

Sk.'HU. 

ized life. was. at limes, rather uncertain. 1 have 
heard of bits of |)nin|)kin. the wristband of a 
soldiers woolen shirt, and the heel of a brogan being 
found in a dish of "slosh,"' — 'twas not a good season 
for slosh, either. 

A man who has not been a soklit-r ami seen active 
campaigning does not know what it is to be either 
comfortable or uncomfortable. W hat comfort alter 
a hard day's march to come to an early hall in a 
Soiditr/ clear field, fires soon built, coffee (juickly maile. and 
<omfori. ^jj j^jj|.j^j^ jj, supjK-r. llow soon the ground dries 
ofT around th(! bivouac tire. What chatting, joking, 
laughing is going on — tired of course : but now 
the pipes are brought to the Iront — how the boss 
did stick to tlieir |)i|)es. sorr\ lookiii;^ om-s. some ol 



221 



2Sth RegL, Mass. J'o/s. 

them — and what enjoyment they get out of the old 

l)riar- woods. Now as the genial warmth spreads 
around and over the whole circle, tell me, Old 
Comrade, is it not solid comfort? Or again, in 
camp, what though it is cold and rainy outside ? 
We have a good, stout canvas over our heads, and 
a comfortable bunk to crawl into by and by; so let 
it rain. We are off duty to-night. Poor fellows, 
walking- your beats in the wet, we pity you ! We 

^ ■' •' The 

may be there tomorrow, but not now. Light the ^,.,;^/^/ 
candles. How cheerful it looks ! Around the ^''^'■ 
center-pole stand the rifles ; how their bright barrels 
glisten in the mellow light. The little stove works 
admirably. Now the pipes, of course. Pass the 
KilK'-kanick ; or Hilly Bow-legs, is it ? How the 
smoke circles around the pole, filling the top of the 
old Sibley tent. Here is a comrade writing a letter 
home ; another reading a paper, smoking the while ; 
another is doing a bit of mending ; and others are 
having a game — Old Sledge, may be — with the 
same old greasy cards that have done duty for so 
many months. Old Comrade, tell me, is not this 
real comfort ? 

The boxes and bimdles from home were always a 
source of great pleasure and comfort to the soldiers. 



22 2 The Story of Company A. 

W'liai lots of tltitto^s those l)Oxes held— clothinjy. 

eatables, w riiinj^ materials, thread, needles and such 
little knicknacks. When a comrade received a box 
from home it was surely a festal day in that tnu. 
All these were comft)rts indeed. 

liiii liu-re was another side from all this. What 
coukl be mort* uncomfortable than a cold, cheerless 
bivouac on the frozen ground, no fires allowed — too 
near the enemy — consequently no coffee. We 
munch the ever-present hanl-tack in shiverintr 
yr^/. silence, and tjuench our thirst with coM water from 
the old canteen. Sleep is impossible, and we move 
about all throu«^di the lonj^, t^loomy nij^dit lo keep 
from becominj^ immovable before morninj^. A^ain. 
Old Comrade, is not this in llu- txininc uncomfort- 
able ? 

It is at first thout^ht sinj^ular. perhaps, but it is. 
nevertheless, true, that a private soldier sees and 
knows little ol what is j^oin*^ on arounil him in bat- 
tle. If the line is formed antl firin^^ has commencetl ; 
if he is in his jjlacc in the ranks where it is ;'/.v ^z;/// 
take, he can see or know only what is j^oinj^ on in 
his immeiliate vicinity. He is obeyini,' orders; the 
enemy are before him ; iu- is loadini; and firinj^^ his 
rifle as he is ordered to do. I l( he.irs ilie roar ot 



2^tJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 223 

artillery, the solid shot whistle by, and the shells go 

screeching- past, crashing through the trees if any 
stand in the way. Yes, he actually sees these come. 
He hears bullets zip, zip through the air so spite- 
ful ; and he also hears the sickly thud of the ball as 
it pierces the breast of his near comrade. He sees 
his companions as they fall around him, and are 
carried to the rear, or lying at his feet, dying. He 
sees the gaps made in the lines by the fallen ones 
closed up again. The noise and confusion at such 
times are simply infernal. Wild hurrahs break upon Limited 
the air as some part of the line is ordered to charge ; '^"^ ^ ^^ 
but unless close by he hardly knows what brigade military 
it may be. He hears at last, perhaps, that the 
enemy are falling back beaten, and that a victory is 
won ; and that is about all there is of it to a private 
soldier in the ranks. The soldier marches and 
counter-marches, — why, except from hearsay, he 
does not understand. Regiments and brigades are 
pushed about by the commanding general like so 
many pieces on a chess board, and the soldiers 
know as little as the pawns of the reasons therefor. 
Truly, the private soldier's means of knowing about 
these things are rather limited, at best. 
29 



move- 
ments. 



224 Tfu Story of Company A. 

W'r learned from prisoners what hrij^ades were 

opposed to us. the names of their commanders, etc. 
Thus, at Arrowfield Church, we heart! from pris- 
oners that Massachusetts and South CaroHna had 
,met in a fair combat : that tlu- Twenty-fifth Massa- 
/m/tmu. chusetts and the Iwenly-fiflh South CaroHna had 
t ome together on the bloody field; and we knew, 
lor we had seen it. that the sons of South Carolina 
had been beaten — scattered like withered leaves. 
So in all eni^a^emcnts. information is grained from 
prisoners. 

Commanding generals do not usually consult 
with privates in regard to "what is to Ix- done and 
how to do it." .Still, it is true, a soldier with e\es 
and ears open, and tongue in his niouih. will |)ick 
up a great deal of hearsay information from those 
about him. Hut of great military movements, or of 
the movements of any brigade save his own, he can 
know but little till the thing is done. It doubtless 
haj)j)ens, sometimes, that commanding officers drop 
a few words of information in the presence of some 
soldier, but of what account is it? It is also fre- 
quently the case that regimental t)fru:ers themselves 
do not know what is to be done ; they arc- simply 
obeying orders. 



25tJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 225 

We often hear of men who had rather go into a 

battle than "eat a good dinner." These men are 
not found in the ranks as a rule ; and wherever 
found, there is no doubt about it, if the truth is told, 
they had rather "eat their dinner," and take their ^'''^'"^''y- 
chance in a fight later on. "The whistling of bullets 
was music to his ears" is an expression often used. 
Quite likely, this ; but a deal depends on the dis- 
tance of the bullet from the ears. If, in passing, it 
chips off a piece of the ear, somehow the music is 
not so pleasant as though the bullet was a few rods 
further off, and it was a piece of some other soldier's 
ear that was taken. Such talk should be taken for 
what it is worth, which is very little. 

All men were not equally good at marching. It 
was not the largest and strongest men that marched ^„^y„^ 
the best. Those of lighter build, wiry, kinky fel- ame. 
lows, were, as a rule, the toughest, and showed the 
most endurance in campaigning. 

Of the use of whiskey in the army, I must say 
that in three years' experience of soldier life, I do 
not remember a single instance (except in hospitals '" ^^' 
and cases of sickness) in which it was of the slight- 
est use or benefit to the soldier, or where hot coffee 
did not serve much better. I have often had the 



226 The Story of Company A. 

lx)ys say to me, "Serjjeant. I wish 1 hadn't touched 

that whiskey." Cotiee was the soldier's friend ; 
whiskey was his foe. 

1 1 is true that the soldier may forjjet until recalled 
to his mind the hartlships of campaijj;;ninj^^ — the 
weary nij^ht's march, tiic terrible thirst, the blister- 
ing^ feet, lb- may tor_<;et tlays of sufferinj^^ which 
at the time seemed almost beyond endurance : but 
the pleasant — yes. happy — hours spent around the 
camp fire, and at the cheerful bivouac, he never can 
forijet. 



CHAPTER XI. 

RE- EN LISTING. 



A FTER getting comfortably settled in our new 

quarters at Camp Upton, the boys entered into a ^ ^' 



Camp 
Upton. 



new industry for "off duty" hours. They made fre- 
quent visits to the wrecks of the frigates Congi^ess 
and Cu77iberlaiid, and obtained bits of copper and 
wood from which they made rings, pins, crosses and 
the like. Busy they must be, and this sort of busi- 
ness occupied their leisure time for days. 

The month of December passed quietly away. 
There was enough to do, surely, with guard and 
fatigue duty, and the regular daily drills. During 
this month we were reviewed by General Butler. General 
This was his first appearance to us. and we looked 
at him with curious eyes as the man of whom we 
had heard so much. 



2 28 The Story of Company A. 

I he camp here was a comfortable one. close on 

1864. , , , - I f , 

the banks ot the James river, and our stay was very 

pleasant for solcher hfe. January, 1864, opened 
cold and disagreeable enou^di. I)ni it inattereil not. 
W'r were in i^ood (juarters. and enjoyed ourselves 
here. 

Karly in December there had been some talk of 
re-enlistin<^. Government was offering large boun- 
ties for old soldiers to re-enlist, with a furlouj^h of 
thirty days, they to be known as "veterans," etc. 
All this was i|uile tempting, but tlic idea diti not 
seem very poj)ular among us. Colonel Pickett had 
explainetl to llie Regiment in his usual sliort, Init 
clear and expressive way. the wiiole scheme ; and 
without the slightest attempt to influence the men 
in any wa\-, lolil ihein to think the matter over 
carefulK' and ilecide for themselves. This was Irank, 

'I h* 

CohHtri open, scpiare and above-board, and what might be 
atiituJf (.^p^.cied from Colonel Pickett. 1 he absence of the 
Colonel tluring the re-enlistment complications was 
extremely unfortunate. His application for leave of 
absence, howevc-r, was based upon the belief that 
the Regiment, being in winter (juarters. wouKl re- 
main inactivi* until earl\ '>l>rinL; : and the re-enlist- 
ment scheme, to all ap|)i-arances. having subsided. 



2^th RegL, Mass. Vols. 229 

he availed himself of the opportunity offered by the 

Commander of the Department, at P'ortress Mon- 
roe, of accompanyinor- vvhat was then supposed to be 
the last detachment of re-enlisted men, to Massa- 
chusetts for thirty days. He was utterly astonished, 
after reaching Worcester, to learn that the re-enlist- 
ing fever had broken out again, and that the Regi- 
ment was to come home on Veteran furlough. 

Recruits were around among us now who had 
received sums which seemed to the old soldiers, with 
their hundred dollars bounty and their thirteen dol- large 

1 11 r 1 1 11 bounties. 

iars a month, almost fabulous ; and when one man 
proved to us that he had received over twelve hun- 
clred dollars down, and would receive his regular 
soldier's pay too, it set us to figuring up the thing. 
(These large sums were paid by individuals who 
were drafted, for substitutes. The draft was being 
enforced at this time.) 

We were receiving the large sum of thirteen 
dollars a month. This for three years would be 
$468., or adding the regular $100. always paid by 
Government, $568. for three years work, while this 
fellow received more than double that amount in 
bounties for the time he might be wanted, one year 
or two, as the war might last. This was very dis- 



1864. 



Thf Story of Company A. 

coiirag^ing to the old soldiers, and iiian\ . no iloiibt. 
ihoiij^hi more sironj^d)- of rc-cnlisiinjT to j^at the 
bounty the (*overnment was offering. 

At ilifferent times in December, 1863, some one 
hundred and fifty men of the Kej^Mment had re-en- 
listed, and early in January. 1S64. sixty more. On 
^-^"'' the 13th of this month the first |)arty of re-enlisted 
tmUtitJ "^^'" '*-*^^ ^^'^ their thirty days' furlou^jh. These men 
mtm. were accompanied by Captain I'oster and Lieuten- 
ants Daly and Upton. A few days later over one 
hundred more left, accompanied by Colonel Pickett, 
Caj)tain Tucker, and Lieutenants Bessey. McCarter 
and Woodworlli. Licultiianl WOodworih had been 
appointed a rrcruitini^ officer, and hail hatl charge 
thus far of the recruits in the regiment. 

With the departure- of Colonel Pickett it was su|j- 
posed by at least the j>rivate soldiers, that this re- 
enlisting business hail "pla)eil out. " Xoi so. how- 
ever ; the vessel on which the Colonel sailed was 
Ktnewd hardly out of sight before the talk of re-enlisting 
tfforit. t)(j(^an to increase, and the officers ojK-nly e.xpressed 
their wish to take home the Twenty-fifth as a vet- 
eran regiment for a thirty da\s* furlough. lo do 
this, three-fourths of the duly men must re-enlist. 

One day a jjrinled order was brougiu to the 



25th Re of., Mass. Vols. 231 



1864. 



Orderly's tent by Sergeant-Major Charles B. Kendall, 
with the request that it be read to Company A. 
Accordingly the men were ordered to "fall in," 
and the Orderly Sergeant, Samuel H. Putnam, 
read, as required, the order; and "that no misunder- 
standing might occur," read it carefully the second 
time. The substance of it was that all men re-en- 
listing would receive the large bounty offered by 
the Government (amount specified in the order), 
a thirty days' furlough, and be known as "veteran 
soldiers." Those not re-enlisting would be "/'^r- ^n as- 
maiieutly transferred to other organizations to se7've ^<'""'^'"s 

order. 

out their time of enlistment ; non-co7n7nissionecl officers 
to be reduced to the ranks!' This was plain English, 
and fell like a clap of thunder on the ears of the 
men. "Drive us into it like dogs, will they?" "Con- 
temptible." "Tell 'em to go to h — 1, Sergeant ! " 
Such were the exclamations heard after the reading 
of the order. It is unnecessary to say that the 
Orderly Sergeant made use of some forcible lan- 
guage when he returned the order to Sergeant- 
Major Kendall. 

It has been doubted by some that such an out- 
rageous order ever could have been issued to Union 
soldiers, though there are plenty of men of "Old 
30 



2^2 The Story of Company A. 

Company A." n%\v livinj^, who heard it read aiul 

will take oath to it ; but to satisfy others, the writer 
addressed a note of inquiry concerning this order to 
General Butler, as follows : 



Gen' Ben. V. Butler, 

l^owell, .N!ass. 

Sir : I was a memhcr of Co. \, 2^\\\ 
Reg., Mass. Vols. ; and while at Newport News, Virginia, an order 
was issued concerning the re-enlistment of soldiers, in such terms 
as these : — Those re enlisting should have the large bounties 
offered, 30 days' furlough, and be known as veteran soliliers. 
'ITiose not re-enlisting should be |>ermanently transferred to other 
organizations to sene out the balance of their term of enlistment ; 
non-iom. offiifrs to he reiiiicfii to the ranks. It was my duty as 
orderly-sergeant to reati this order to my company. My state- 
ment to this effect, however, has l>een (|uesiionetI ; and acconlingly 
I wish to know from you if such an order was issued, and by whose 
authority. This inquiry is made for my own |>ersonal satisfaction. 

Vours truly, 

Samuki. H. IVlna-m. 

General Butler's reply is here given : 

WASHiNfrroN. I). C'.. Sff^t. 4. 1879. 

I )e3r Sir : 

I cannot |>osilively state of my own knowledge 
by whose authority the order you sjHjak of as to the re-enlistment 
of veterans was made ; but I can say that I kuew that such an 
order was made, and that it was issued with tlue authority. If it 



Central 

ButUr'i 

letUr. 



2^th Regt., Mass. Vols. 233 

was issued from my headquarters it was only issued by authority 

of the War Department, and was returned and never objected to 1864. 
by that Department. Yours truly, 

{Signed) Benj. F. Builkr. 
S. H. Putnam, Esq., 
389 Main St., 
Worcester, Mass. 

This letter is now in possession of the writer. 

This, it would seem, must settle the question. But 
the order, wherever it may have originated, whether 
with the War Department or in the fertile brain of 
Major-General Benjamin F. Butler, was meaji, cow- 
ardly and contemptible ; and after the departure of '^'''"''^ °^ 

^ the trans- 

Colonel Pickett, Lieutenant Bessey, and those who actio,t. 
went home on furlough, the manner in which the 
re-enlisting was conducted in the Twenty-fifth Reg- 
iment, was, if possible, still more mean, cowardly 
and contemptible.* It did seem as though all in 
authority had lost their heads. They could hardly 
praise enough those who would re-enlist, neither 
could they say enough in censure of those who 
would not. Officers could be seen almost any time 
in the tents of the men urging them to put their 
names down ; men were gathered in little groups 
all over the camp discussing the subject ; still not 

* Is this strong language? I am responsible. — S. H. V. 



x864. 



234 The Story of Company A. 

enough re-c*nIiste(J to allow the Regiment to go 
home on furlough. 

Promises implying promotion were freely made, 
and every inducement that could be thought of was 
used. Other subtile agencies wi*re at work, and 
under iluir influence some acts were committed 
that have been a source of regret ever since. The 
clima.x was reached when the Regiment was drawn 
up in line and harangued by the officers, the Lieu- 
tenant-Colonel leading off. He spoke of the very 
liberal bounties offered by the Government for re- 
Sf^fikti enlisted men ; of the great benefits to be gained, 
"-^ "*' with no great risk ; of the thirty days' furlough ; and 

ofiters. 

said doubtless the war would soon be ended, and if 
a man should happen to lose an arm. he could say 
he was a veteran soklier ami lost it in the service of 
his country ! On the other hand, he consoled those 
who would not re-enlist by saying they would be 
sent to N'orktown, which was a very sickly place — 
a perfect cemetery — and their bones would bleach 
there with those of McCIellan's old mules I He had 
rather go into battle than go to N'orktown. and he 
closed by saying. ";\11 the best men are re-enlisting, 
and there will be nothing left but the r/i<jff of the 
Twenty-fifth Rtrgiment I " — a very unfortunate ex 



1864. 



2^tJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 235 

pression, and one that is remembered to this day. 
The Major followed in very few words, advising 
them all to re-enlist. Captain Tom O'Neil and 
others also spoke, and the men were dismissed to 
their quarters to think the matter over. All this 
twaddle of speech-making could be brought out if 
necessary, for there was "a child among em taking 
notes" at the time ; but it reads very flat now to 
anyone who was there. 

The effect of this order in Company A was that 
not as many re-enlisted as would have done so 
without it. Some who had thought seriously of ^.p'^t "/ 

. . Ill 1 • (^'■^ order. 

domg so now swore they would not under any cir- 
cumstances. The truth is, the men of Company A 
were a hard lot to drive or frighten into a measure 
like this. Prompt to obey, they were just as prompt 
to defend their own rights (very few in the army), 
and to express their opinions and stand by them. 
It is but justice to say that in Company A not the 
slightest effort was made by its officers to influence 
the men to re-enlist. Captain Goodwin was at this 
time on detached service in Massachusetts, Lieu- 
tenant Bessey was absent on furlough, and Lieu- 
tenant Burr was in command of the Company. 



236 Tlw Story of Covipany A. 



1864. 



"t jootl God ! " said one of Company A, "if Pickett 
was here he'd stop this wretched tomfoolery," and 
he would have done so ; but I'ickett was not there, 
and the tomfoolery went on. This was all very 
amusing, but in the eagerness of those in command 
to carry out their scheme of taking home the Twen- 
ty-fifth as a veteran regiment, they overstepped the 
bounds of justice and right. 

Considerable talk there was o{ patriotism during 
the re-enlisting excitement. Great inducements 

/rjj tt offered — men rc-enlist. With no large bounties. 

fatrtct- j^^^^, nianv would have re-enlisted at this time? Pa- 

ism f ^ 

triotism was it ? 

On the 19th of January fifty nK-n, and on the 20th, 
two hundred men were re-enlisted ; and as the time 
appointed for lliis business had exjiired. those who 
had not re-enlisted were ordered to start for NOrk- 
town on the morrow. 

The result of all this was that llu- Regiment was 
now divided into two factions — "\'ets" (veterans) 
and "Used-to-bes."* Not that there was anything 
like animosity among us, but there was a sort of 
fecliuc^ : and it was j)lain to be seen evi-r after. 

•"Wc want In jjo home and W citucnk as wc n^td to hi' — hence the name. 



25th Reg/., Mass. Vols. 237 

though orders were obeyed as before, that the en- 



thusiasm of the earHer days of the Regiment had ^ ^' 
departed, never to return. 

On the 2 1st of January Companies A, G and I, 
as companies, and other members of the Regiment, 
to the number of two hundred and twenty-five men, 
left Camp Upton in heavy marching order for that 
cemetery, Yorktown, under command of Captain 
Parkhurst and Lieutenants Saul and Johnson, the 
latter formerly Orderly Sergeant of Company A 
("Old Posey"). Doctor Hoyt also accompanied us. 
As they stood ready to march "I went up and down ,/ , 

■^ ■' '■ Yorktown 

the line looking into the faces of the men. Firm and 
resolute they were. Here one in the ranks says : 
'Good-bye, Bill,' to one in the camp ; 'Good luck, 
Sam,' from one in the camp to one in the ranks. 
Shaking hands here and there, — tearful eyes on 
both sides. It was a sorry sight." 

They were thinking men. They had taken in the 
situation at a glance, had quietly thought over the 
matter, and had decided they would not re-enlist. 
Many had families at home, and three years' ab- 
sence was enough for them. Were they not right? 
They had fulfilled their contract with the Govern- 



238 ^ The Story of Company A. 

ment thus far to the vcr\- Idler, and uouKl to the 

1864. 

end. Why should they do more ? 

They could not be bought or l)ribcil with large 
bounties and a thirty days' furlough. They could 
not Ik! cajoled by honeyed words in j>romise of 
promotion or preferment. Nor were they fright- 
ened by the harsh words of that contemptible order 
with its "permanently transferred" and "reduced to 
the ranks" threats. Neither did visions of that 
dread cemetery. N'orktown, disturb their slumljers 
in the least. 

I lere were men b) scores who hati been in every 
fight and on every march in which the Twenty-fiflh 
hail participated ; never known to shirk a day's duty 
or shun a day's work ; always reati) — now kicked 
out — the chajf of the riccnty-Jiftli Ri'gimcnt. 

To their credit be it said, they always spoke well 
of their old comratles, ami did tluir i)rsi to ujiliold 
the honor and name of tin- Regiment. Under the 
bluejacket of the j^rivatc- sokiier there stood a w<///. 

This matter of re-enlisting was simj)I\ ilisgrace- 
ful. anil is the one foul blot on the* otherwise fair 
escutcheon of the rwenty-fiflh Regiment. .A man 
can be a man though but a private soKlier : he can 



2^tJi RegL, A/ass. lo/s. 239 



be less than a man though he wears the badge of 

office in the United States service. 

It may be said, Why call up these things to-day ? 
"The story of Company A" cannot be told without it. 
"We should forgive and forget" — how pretty ! For- 
give is one thing, forget another ; the first is easy, 
the latter impossible. 

The order to march was given, and we left Camp 
Upton about 11 a. m. of January 21st, supposing we ^'"'"'' 

way to the 

had seen the last of it and our old comrades. We cemetery. 
had expected, or rather, hoped, that some officer of 
our own regiment would, man-fashion, volunteer to 
go with us, see what became of us, and stay with us 
to the end. Here was an opportunity — he would 
have been one of the most popular officers in the 
Regiment ; but he did not come. We hear much of 
the love officers have for their men. Was this a 
specimen of it ? 

The day's march was a pleasant one of ten or 
twelve miles, and we bivouacked in the early even- 
ing- near an old church at Little Bethel. This old ^^^''^' 

.... Bethel. 

church — a mere shell with nothing left inside but 
the floor — we cleaned out as well as we could, and 
after supper candles were lighted, a violin found, 
and a dance started. And such a dance ! From 
31 



A dantt. 



240 Tlu Siory of Company A. 

the outside it was a curious sijjfht — li^ht streaming 

out of the sashless windows and wide open doors, 
while rude bursts of lau^^hler were heard from the 
dancers and lo<.)kers-on. It was a weird scene, and 
rivalled the witch dance in Tam O'Shanter. As the 
fun waxed furious it was amusing to see the guard, 
posteil by the Captain some time before, come 
quietly into the building, cooly take off equipments, 
set their rilles up in a corner, and join in the "all 
hands round. " This was rcail)' not according to 
"army regulations," and might be "conduct preju- 
dicial to good ordtT and military discipline"; but 
then, what of il ? Who were we. anyhow ? We 
were not supposed to belong to the Twenty- fifth 
Regiment — we had been kicked out of that ; and wc 
knew nothing of any other. W r were a sort of 
independent battalion, and we did feel independent. 
So the fun went on until the candles burnt low, 
when the dancing ceased, and the guard donned 
their equipments, shouldered their rifles, and strode 
out into the darkness to their posts. 

The next day the march was continued to \'()rk- 
town over miles of McClellan's corduroy roads. We 
reached N'orktown. a distance of about twelve miles, 
a little- before noon, and here we halieil till nearly 



2stJi RcoL, Mass. Vols. 241 

6 p, M., when orders were received to push on to 



Wilhamsburg, some fifteen miles further. We saw ^ ^^" 
no reason for this ; we could have made the distance 
instead of resting at Yorktown ; now it would be an 
all night's job. But we supposed this to be a part -^'^'''^ 
of the great re-enlisting scheme to break us down """^'^ ' 
— twenty-seven miles in one day in heavy marching 
order; and the cry was raised: "Now will you re- 
enlist?" "Oh, why did you go for a soger?" 

This march to Williamsburg was quite a severe 
one, still there was very little straggling, and about 
I o'clock on the morning of January 23d we reached 
our journey's end. We bivouacked on the ground, 
cold and frosty as it was, and slept till broad day- 
light. 

We pitched our tents here, for Companies A, G 
and 1 had left Camp Upton as companies, and had 
tents and all company property with them. Our camp 
camp was known as Camp Hancock, in honor of ^^^"'^°'''- 
General Hancock, who had fought over this ground. 
This was near the junction of Queen's creek and 
York river. 

Lieutenant Burr arrived shortly after, and took 
command of Company A, acting as adjutant. We 
soon commenced doing picket duty just outside of 



242 The Story of Company A. 

W'illiamshiir};. One clay about sixty men of the 

Kle\ enih Connecticut arrived here, and were located 
near us in shelter tents. They had not re-enlisted, 
— what a had lot of fellows they must have been ! 
We wondered if they were the chaff of the Eleventh 
Connecticut. 

Camp Hancock was about two miles from Wil- 
liamsburg, and nearly the same from I'mt Magruder, 
which mounted twenty ^uns with a liiich around it. 
The face of the countr)' in this vicinity was dotted 
with rille pits, ditches, breastworks, and the like, 
and was thickly strewn witli fra<^ments of arms and 
equipments, clothint;. etc.: and the lonj^ lines of 
Efffih trcMiches near Fort Ma^^rutler. now sunken, where 
'/"■^^ men by hundreds were buried, showed the terrible 
struggle the Union soldiers had in taking WilHams- 
burg. It is said they charged three times before 
the fort was taken, and thi-n it was llanked. .At one 
point in this vicinil) ten fortilK atinns. forts, batteries, 
etc. were in sight. 

The countr)' here was fairly wooded with cedar, 
walnut. chincai)in. elm and chestnut. I-Vom the 
river we had oysters, very abundant anil large, anil 
we went for them strong. Thi'^ (oiintry i^ piD- 
nounced vcrv Iwallhv. 



25th Regl., Mass. Vols. 243 

Our second day at Camp Hancock we had visitors 



from Camp Upton. It appeared they had not yet 
got the three-fourths necessary of the duty men to 
re-enhst, and Adjutant McConville and Lieutenant 
Drennan made their appearance. McConville had 
not been present during the re-enlisting excitement, 
and we were surprised to see him here. They tried Re-eniist- 
to talk more re-enlisting to us, but it was no use ; '"^'^■^^"'^ 
and when (in accordance with their orders it was 
said) they desired Surgeon Hoyt to put as many of 
us on the sick list as possible, thereby increasing 
the proportion of duty men at Camp Upton, he 
laughed in their faces, and said that men who could 
stand the journey to Williamsburg in heavy march- 
ing order, were not very sick he guessed. All this 
was very queer — it made Captain Parkhurst laugh. 
He told the visitors they had got into the wrong 
pew ; so they went back to Camp Upton, taking one 
or two men to re-enlist. 

On January 29th Major Mulcahy, of the One- 
hundred-and-thirty-ninth New York, assumed com- 

•^ Officers 

mand. Our own officers left a clay or two later ; Uave. 
and we were then in a singular situation : two hun- 
dred and twenty-five men of one of the best Massa- 
chusetts reoiments without an officer of their own 



1864. 



Aiii^fd, 



244 Tfu Story of Company A. 

to command them, wringinjj words of praise from 
the lips of the strange officers who were placed over 
them, and loud in their praise of the Commander of 
their old regiment, antl of the men who composed 
it. It was a singular stale of affairs, 

F"ebruary 4ih we broke camp and marched to the 
camj) of the One-hundred-and-thirty-niiuh New 
York, and being drawn up in line, were counted off 
in K)ts and assigned to the different companies of 
that regiment. Some went to their camji, and two 
lots went into l*'ort Magruder with Companies I*' and 
G of that regiment. This, we thought, was the last 
act in that contemptible farce of re-enlisting. 

The next day at dress parade. Colonel Roberts 
made a short speech. Addressing himself to the 
members of the Twenty-fifth, he complimented them 
on their soldierly ajjpearance, and said he untlcr- 
stood the \'ankee boys thought they were perma- 
nently transferred to his regiment, aiul tliat the non- 
commissioned officers were to be reduced to the 
ffrrtd. ranks ; this was a mistake, as they were only tem- 
porarily assij^neil to his regiment, and would remain 
only until the re-enlisted men returned from their 
furlough, when they were to go back to their own 
regiment. As for non-commissioned officers, he 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 245 

had no authority to reduce them to the ranks — their 

own regimental officers must do that. He would 
simply request them to do duty with his men in 
their respective ranks until they did return to the 
Twenty-fifth. 

This little speech explained the whole matter. 
We found in Colonel Roberts a man. It is fair to ^^'''"^i 
presume that the officers of the Twenty-fifth must ,.^^^^_ 
have known as much about the re-enlisting as did 
Colonel Roberts, but concealed it from the men, 
and set up a scarecrow in the re-enlisting farce. 
The speech of Colonel Roberts was received with a 
round of cheers by the men of the Twenty-fifth, in 
which the New York regiment joined, and for some 
minutes the Colonel could not be heard. He then 
stated that a raid was to be undertaken on the 
morrow in which his regiment was to join, and all 
must expect a severe march. To the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment he had nothing to say ; they knew their 
duty and would do it he was assured, though with- 
out a single officer of their own. Parade was then 
dismissed. 

Early morning of February 6th found us in line, 
and we marched into Williamsburg. When the 
column was formed it comprised the One-hundred- 



246 The Story of Company . I. 

aixJ-lhirty- ninth and Onc-hundred-and-eighteenth 



New York, two regiments of colored troops, and I 
believe but a single l)attery, all iiiuler command of 
General Wistar. \\\* heard that a regiment of cav- 
alr)' was to follow us. As we marched through the 
town it was plain to he seen that it hail suffered 
from the effects of the war ; few inhabitants were 
left ; many houses deserted and manv burned. 
burg. William and Mary College, one of the oldest in 
America, had also been destroyetl by Union soldiers 
in revenge, it was said, for having been fired on 
from its windows. Though the walls were mostly 
standing, it was completely ruined. Williamsburg 
was a still, sunny old place, with one [principal street, 
and our boys, when wcr left this section, had learned 
to love lh(.' old town for the air of peace and quiet- 
ness that seemed to han*^ over it. 

About a mile beyond the town we entered the 
forest, when skirmishers, or rather, Hankers, were 
thrown out. and the column moved on at a good, 
smart jjace till noon. wIumi a halt was made to let 
the cavalry pass, of which there must have been a 
regiment, say twelve or fifteen hundred men. From 
this time the march was (juite severe, and began to 
tell on the New N'orkers. \\C of the Twenty-fifth 



25tJi RegL, Mass. Vols. 247 

however, were used to this sort of business, and 

worried but little over it. At every halt our boys 
would drop to the ground and get all the rest there 
was to be had, and move on at the word of command. 
Major Mulcahy hardly knew how to take us ; he 
endeavored to keep us on our feet, but it was no go. 
He talked loud and scolded some. Colonel Roberts, 
riding up, asked him the cause of the trouble : 
"Why, you see. Colonel, at every halt these men Major 
sii)nilta7ieously sit down." This expression brought '^'^''^'^'^'•^' 
out a roar of laughter from the Twenty-fifth boys, 
in which Colonel Roberts joined. The Major dis- 
appeared. 

Fcr miles after this the soldiers tramped on in 
perfect good humor. Most of the A boys instead 
of loading down with rations for three days, figured 
it thus: four hard-tack for breakfast (with coffee). Rations. 
six hard-tack for dinner (with salt horse), four hard- 
tack for supper (with coffee again) — forty-two hard- 
tack, all told, for three days, which with coffee and 
meat, was ample, and gave us a light load to carry. 
We marched rapidly, reaching New Kent, about 
thirty miles, near midnight ; and after coffee, and a 
rest of three hours, were on the road ag^ain. About 
noon we reached Baltimore Cross Roads ; here 
32 



248 The Story of Company A. 

several roads intersect, one goings direct to Rich- 
mond, crossing the Chickahominy at Bottom's 
bridge, only two or three miles distant ; others to 
White House and Charles City. 

We struck the Chickahominy river at Bottom's 
bridge, but the enemy were found there in force, 
Boiiom'i ^"<J l'^<^ britlge had been destroyed ; so excepting a 
^''-^v. little desultory firing, with six or eight killed and 
wounded, nothing was done, and we returned to 
Williamsburg, bivouacking one night near what was 
callctl the "Tuf-Kc Mile Ordinarx ," where once 
was a tavern. 

After near three days' absence, not a man of the 
Twenty-fifth was found straggling ; but the New- 
Yorkers kept coming in for twenty-four hours after. 
We had marched from fifty to si\i\ miles. He- 
ura -ttrs ^^^^ ^^^ broke ranks Colonel Roberts again spoke 
to his soldiers. He called attention to the fact that 
while his men were picked up straggling in such 
numbers, not one of the Twenty-fifth was so found. 
He also called the attention of officers as well as 
men to the discipline and behavior of those who, 
without an officer of their own, coulil go on a severe 
march without a straggler, and return in better con- 
dition than his own regiment. \\\v truth is. the 



1864. 



25tJi Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 249 

Twenty-fifth boys were right on their "proud," and 
kept up their dignity and self-respect, and after all 
had at heart the honor and good name of their old 
regiment. 

The object of the expedition seems to have been 
to make a stand at Bottom's bridge while the cav- 
alry made a dash at Richmond, liberating prisoners, 
and burning the city if possible ; but, as we have 
seen, it was a failure. 

Our picket line extended from the York to the 
James rivers, about four miles ; and with gunboats 
on either flank, was a strong one. After our raid, 
prisoners escaped from Richmond came in often, in 
squads of from four to six men ; and on the 23d 
of February, five officers came in and reported no 
enemy between us and Bottom's bridge. A squad 
from Longstreet's corps came in and surrendered 
themselves at another time. 

One of the picket posts in Williamsburg was at 
the old brick house once occupied by Governor ' "^' 

^ •' house. 

Page of Virginia. It was built of brick imported 
from England. The library in this mansion was a 
room about eighteen by twenty feet, and the walls 
had been covered with books from floor to ceiling ; 
but now the shelving had been torn down, and the 



250 The Story of Cotnpany A. 

Hoor was piled with books in wrelclicJ disorder 

— trampled on — most pitiful to see. In the attic 
of this old house the boys found trunks and 
boxes of papers of a century jjast — documents, 
letters, etc. Amonj^ the latter were those bearing 
the signatures of such men as Jefferson, Madison, 
Richard Henry Lee ; and one or more signed by 
Washington. 

Early on the morning of Februar)' 19th orders 
came for the One-hundred-and-thirty-ninth to pre- 
pare for a march at 7 a. m., with three days' rations. 
They were sent to Newport News, and we were now 
alone. The Twenty-fifih boys in I'ort .Magruder 
were relieved by a company of heavy artillery, and 
marched to the old camp of the New N'ork regiment, 
and wc were all together once more. Two lieuten- 
ants from the ()ne-hundred-an«i-forty-eighth New 
York, whose names I have forgotten, assumed com- 
mand of the Twenty-fifth men here at this camp, 
which was known as Camjj West ; and we were 
divided into three companies, thus : Company A. 
Sergeant Putnam ; Com|)any (i, Serg<-ani Lee ; 
Company I. .Sergeant Moulion ; and witii the two 
lieutenants in command wc wen- in gooil shape. 
Camp West (named for Colonel \\ fsl wlu) was in 



Omee 

morf 



1864. 



2sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 251 

command here) was ver>' comfortable. The men 
had wooden shanties, while the officers' quarters 
were very pretty cottages made of upright logs, one 
story high, most of them, and very neatly fashioned. 
We had not drawn clothing for some time, and 
when we left Camp Upton many of the men wanted 
jackets, shoes, and other articles ; and the hard ser- 
vice since leaving that camp had put us in bad shape. 
In some cases men going on duty would have to siau 0/ 
take the shoes and jackets of those who came off ; "^ !, "'^ 

•' ' ana arms. 

and thus keep things moving. The New York offi- 
cers were, naturally, unwilling to be responsible for 
clothing issued to our men ; and non-commissioned 
officers being of no account, or rather, in a military 
sense, not responsible parties, of course we could 
not get clothing, and had to resort to such means 
as have been mentioned. 

"I one day found some old shoes in a refuse heap, 
and gave them to one of Company A (Gus Stone, 
I think) who seemed glad enough to get them." 
Our arms were beginning to need repairs, but 
nothing could be done in that respect ; still they 
were always clean and bright, and at the drills we 
had we received the highest praise from the New 
York officers. 



252 The Story of Company A. 

Towards the close of I'Vbruarv an officer from 

General Butler's headciuarters came, as he said, to 
inspect the Twenty-fifth Massachusetts RejLj^iment ; 
and when the men were drawn uj) in companies, 
and for his benefit put throuj^h the manual, he ex- 
pressed ^reat surprise, ami pronounced them the 
best drilled rej^nment in the Department. When 
told that these men were simply the "chaff" of the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment, and had been kicked out of 
it because they would not re-enlist, his anger knew 
no bounds. 'What is all this? No officers of your 
own? and on that raid to Bottom's bridge? Why 

CommeMt 

cf tkt t^^is i^ outrageous — contemptible. 1 11 report this 
Im^ior.^^ headcjuarters." Such was his language (I regret 
1 have not this officer's name); and wiu-n each com- 
pany, as inspected, was marched away at his desire 
under commantl of a "non-com. " wlio jnit the men 
through the evolutions, as wheeling, etc., he de- 
clared he never inspected a better drilled lot of men. 
\'ery good for the chaff — what must the better j)art 
of the Regiment have been ? 

The inspector also said that officers who woukl 
use men this way deserved to be cashiered, while 
every non-commissioned officer on the ground was 
worthy a commission. i'his is not e.xaggerated a 



25t]i Regt., Mass. Vols. 253 

particle. It was written down at the time, and is 

Still legible, though in pencil. It was a strange 
spectacle — men so well drilled yet so ragged ; still 
there was no complaint, and the men went to their 
duty cheerfully, and began to look at the whole 
affair as a huge joke. 

While at Camp West the Twenty-fifth went on 
several short raids, bringing in families, horses, etc. 
One morning more men wete found in line ready 
for the march than were reported fit for duty the 
day before ; and the New York officers on inquiry Piiick. 
were told that the Twenty-fifth had no sick ones at 
such times. They said : "Well, we don't under- 
stand you Yankee soldiers." 

March 2d we were relieved by the Eleventh 
Connecticut, and on the 3d left Camp West and 
started for Newport News, reaching- Yorktown in ,, 

^ & Newport 

the afternoon, and finally halting some distance News. 
beyond. The next day we reached Newport News 
in the afternoon. 

While at Camp West we of course made the best 
of the situation, and an incident I remember as very 
amusing at the time, was this : Sergeant Wesson 
("Rats") with Corporal George R. Brown occupied 
a small house together. Now when we first arrived 



1864. 



254 ^^''* ^f^O' ^f Company A. 

ai Camp West, "Rats" noiicctl a number ol fowls 
running around here, probably left by the New 
York regiment ; and after a deal of pains, managed 
to catch them all — three or four. "One day I was 
surprised with an invitation to liitu- with Wesson. 
The word sounded strangely, but at the proper 
hour I made my ajijjearance at Sergeant Wesson's 
cabin, and was met \vith his 'Hallo, Sergeant, have 
a seat.' A small table was in the center of the 
floor, on which were tin plates, cups, knives, forks 

A Jtniter. 

and spoons, with soft bread and a covered dish. 
The cabin was filled with an odor e.xtremely pleas- 
ant to a hungr\ man. What couKl ii be ? llog 1 
knew, salt horse I knew, antl stcwetl beans in the 
old black camp kettle I knew ; but w hat was this 
savory snull that took me back to the days when 
we lived in 'God's country,'* and occasionally dined? 
Can it be? It was — cliickcu fricasseed; and wt' 
dined. Soldiers sometimes do get a sort of civiiizetl 
meal." 

The country around Williamsburg i> cui ujj by 
many ravines, and on one running from the ^'ork 



• <\ coinmun exprcuiun in the army [at homt. .VUo called " The Kind of 
biled khirtt." 



2St}i Regt.^ Mass. Vols. 255 

to the James river, Fort Magruder was built, named 



for the Rebel general who erected it. ' ^' 

We were received with much surprise by those of 
the Twenty-fifth who had returned from furlough, 
and though they seemed glad to see us, they had 
hardly expected it. Colonel Pickett returned with „ , 
the re-enlisted men, and the Regiment was again to the 
reunited under his command. During his absence '^''^""^'''' 
he had been kept in profound ignorance of the un- 
fair and reprehensible methods resorted to for the 
purpose of reopening the re-enlistment question. 
But when all the facts came to his knowledge, he 
expressed in the strongest terms his condemnation, 
not onl)- of the unjustifiable measures used by the 
officers left in charo-e of the Regfiment to induce the 
men to re-enlist, but of the outrageous usage of 
those who for their own good reasons declined to 
do so. 

March 2 2d a severe storm set in, and snow lay 
six inches deep in camp — rather rough for canvas 
walls. On the 26th, about 9 a. m., we left Newport 
News for Portsmouth, and in the afternoon a steamer 
arrived brintjinor all the re-enlisted men. So Com- 
pany A was all together once more, and again there 
was a Twenty- fifth Regiment. 



256 The Story of Company A. 

There were many recruits brDiij^hl uul ai tins 

lime, and the Regiment must have numljered eight 
hundred men. We hail been absent from the Regi- 
ment about two months. On the 27th of March 
we went into cam|j at (jetty's Station, which was 
known as Camp WelHngton, in honor of 1. \\ . 
Wellington. t)ne of Worcester's most jjatriotic citi- 
zens. 

While in the neighborhood of Getty's Station we 
once passed a large tent on which was painletl in 
glaring letters, "Bodies Kml)almed," suggesting 
<'«^j/«<-./' pleasant thoughts to the soldier. "What do you 
think of that, fellows?" said one. "How would you 
like to be embalmed and go home on a furlough ?" 
asked another. "What do you suppose 'tis?" 
"Well, I reckon it's some kind of a pickle" said an- 
other — careless talk of thoughtless soldiers. 



CHAPTER XII. 

TH?: BATFLE SUMMER. 

pAMP WELLINGTON was on the railroad lead 

• 1864 

ing to Suffolk, and but a few miles from Ports- ^' 

mouth. The tents were nicely pitched when one 
day a heavy rain came on, and most of those be- 
longing to Company A were completely flooded 
out. 

April 1 2th, at midnight, Companies A and D had 
orders to fall in, light marching order, and twenty 
extra rounds. In a few minutes Company A was 
in line. The Colonel riding up, it being quite dark, 
asked, "What company is that?" "Company A, 
sir" said the Orderly. "Just what I thought" was 
the response. "He knows Old Company A, don't 
he?" whispered one in the ranks. Company D 
soon joined us, and we marched to the station and 
took the cars. We reached a place called Magnolia 



258 The Story of Company A. 

Station, where we bivouacked. The next morninir 

i86a 

we marched to Suffolk ami hailed for the rest of the 
day and aj^in bivouacked. On the 14th, after 
marching; six or ei^ht miles beyond Suffolk and 
finding bridj^es destroyed, without even a skirmish 
we returned to Camp Wellington, reaching there on 
i ratJ ^^ morning of the 15th. The whole affair was, it 
seems, a hunt for guerrillas, in which the other wing 
of the Regiment took j)art. going by boat to Smith- 
field : but the expedition was no great success. 

Camp Wellington was not on the best ground 
that could be chosen, and Comjjany A moved to 
the rear where the land was higher. "One night 
— 'twas long after taps — we heard water running in 
our tent, ami on getting uj) to see what the trouble 
was, found ourselves ankle-deep in cold water. 
Here was a go. Striking a light, we found the 
water running through the tent. What could we 
do? One Sergeant sat on his l)unk wringing the 
•■' '^""'^'' water (Hit of his jacket ; another on a cracker box 
was fishing Uj) shoes and stockings from the deep : 
while Rats' Wesson sat on a three-legged stool and 
sung '1 feel like one forsaken.' It was an uncom- 
fortable 'incident,' but comical. l<>r two liours the 
rain poureil. anti thtm suddenly ceaseil. 'Rats* 



2^tJi Re of., Mass. Vols. 259 

procured a shovel, dug a deep hole in the center of 



the tent into which the water ran, and then bailed 
out the hole ! " 

The weather during our stay at Camp Welling- 
ton was, much of it, wet and disagreeable ; but the 
boys took advantage of the pleasant days to cut 
slats in the woods for stockades on which to raise 
our tents. Dave Bigelow and one man cut two 
hundred and fifty in one day. 

We had heard that Plymouth, N. C, was sur- 
rounded by the Rebels, and that General Wessells 
was besieged there. We were ordered to his as- 
sistance, and on the 2 2d of April embarked for 
North Carolina on board a steamer — a double- 
ender — and soon entered the Dismal Swamp canal. 



Great 



This was in part a natural stream and partly artifi- 

Dismal 

cial, and did not admit of very large craft ; was swamp. 
narrow, of no great depth, and very crooked. It 
afforded a short cut from the James river to Albe- 
marle sound, saving an outside passage around 
Cape Hatteras. The steamer was provided with 
iron plates that could be put into position on the 
sides, affording quite a protection from rifle shots. 
The Dismal Swamp had been infested by Rebels 
who had kept up a sort of guerrilla warfare, firing 



26o The Story of Company A. 

into boats, and indeed caplurinjj^ one. so the\ went 

1864. 

armored. 

It was brijjht moonlight as we entered the canal. 
and we were at once in the forest, for this swamp 
covers an immense tract of coiintr)- and is one vast 
wilderness, having in its center a large sheet of 
water called I^ke Drummond. In many places the 
stream was so narrow that the trees swept both 
sides of the boat, and the turns were so short that 
we were constantly getting aground. The scene as 
we moved on was one of sini'ular wildness and 
Dismal beauty. Many of the trees were draped with long 
• -istrnfi. ^[YQ2t.mtir9, of gray moss which waved gently in the 
night air; and the boat moving now in shadow, now 
in bright moonlight, gave a weird effect to the whole 
scene, making it very fascinating. W C passed a 
landing where our old friends, the One-hundred- 
and-thirty-iiinth New \'ork. were stationed, and 
right glail were we to see them — a pleasant surprise 
for both parties. It was not until the morning of 
the 24th that we entered Currituck sound, reach- 
ing Roanoke Islantl about noon of the same day. 

We here heard of the cajjture of Plymouth by the 
Rebel?j. so our services wore not needed, and the 
Regiment was ordereil back to (ieit\'s .Station. 



2Sth Rcgl., Mass. Vols. 261 



1864. 



Company A being left on the Island. We found 
Roanoke as we had left it, except that there were 
more darky settlers. 

After a stay of three days the Company was or- 
dered back to Getty's Station the same way we came ; 
and leaving the Island on the morning of the 27th 
of April, reached our old camp at midnight of 
that day, finding it deserted, the Regiment having 
been ordered to that cemetery, Yorktown. We 
occupied the abandoned camp that night, and next 
day went to Portsmouth where all company prop- 
erty was stored. We left here our knapsacks and 
woolen blankets, leaving us with only our rubber 
blankets and the clothes we had on — no more. 
From Portsmouth we went to Norfolk and took a 
steamer for Yorktown, arriving at evening of the 
same day, and the Regiment was again all together. 

Our tempot-ary camp of shelter tents was on the 
York river, some forty or fifty feet above the water. 
It would seem to be a classic neiofhborhood for ciassu 
Americans here. We, the "Used-to-bes," had 
tramped over the fields where the British laid down 
their arms in the Revolution ; we had traced out the 
lines of earthworks of the contending armies of that 
day ; but of Yorktown little can be said : a very few 



262 The Story of Company A. 

old buiUlings — and it is doubtful if a house has been 



built there in tlie last hundred years. The building 
occupieil by Cornwallis was pointed out. but private 
soldiers did not have much time to attend to such 
matters. 

Heckman here assumed command of his brigade. 
It consisted of the Twenty-third, Twenty-fifth and 
Twenty-seventh Massachusetts, and the Ninth New 
Jersey. Here tin- whole corps was reviewed by 
General Butler. 

We were in the I'irst Brigade, Second Division 
of the Kighteenth Army Corps, General \V. I*". 
("Baldy") Smith. Ihe Ifnih and Kighteenth 
Corj)s formed the Army of the James, commanded 
by General Butler. 

Our brigade, early one warm .Ma\ morning, was 
marched towards Williamsburg a few miles, the 
Twenty-seventh in advance. The roads were heavy 
Yorku^-.cH \s\\\\ dust, ami we "Used-to-bes" chuckled some to 
think the uhole Regiment iiad been orderetl to 
visit that cemetery, Vorktown, and was now march- 
ing over the same old dusty road we had tramped 
a few weeks before. We came to a halt about miil- 
day. and at 2 i*. .m. commenced our return march, 
the Ninth New Jersey leading off; and we reached 



^ 




ifliotvpe Kni 



2^tJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 263 

our cami) pretty well tired out. It seems that all 

this marching was but a feint, for on the 4th of May 
we went on board transports with three days' rations, 
and steaming down the York river, at 5 r. m. an- 
chored at Fortress Monroe. 

Sunrise of May 5th we were on the move again, 
gunboats in advance, headed up the James river. 
The day was clear and bright, and the long line of 
steamers crowded with men, stretching for miles on 
this beautiful river, reminded us forcibly of our ad- 
vance on Roanoke Island, and of our departure from 
Annapolis. 

We noticed squads of Negroes running along the 
banks of the river, with little bundles in their hands, 
making all sorts of gestures to us as if they would 
like to be taken aboard — slaves evidently seeking a 
chance to escape. We passed the ruins of James- 
town and Harrison's landing on our right, Fort 
Powhatan on our left, and at 5 p. m. reached City 
Point, at the mouth of the Appomatox river. We 
here found our old friend, the steamer A^ew York, 
now a flag of truce boat, making trips to Richmond 
occasionally. We moved still further up the river 
and arrived at Bermuda Hundred. The troops 
landed in a very short time, and our brigade was 
34 



up the 
river. 



264 The Story of Company A. 

soon in line, and climbinj:^ the stccij banks marched 

1864. 

ihrou^h cultivated lands, and finally bivouacked in 

a field of clover. The nij^dil passed quietly away, 
not a shot beinj( fired. 

On the morning of the 6th we were aj^ain in line, 
the Twenty-seventh men in atlvance. the Twenty- 
fifth foUowinj^. We marcheil through woods of oak 
Q^>, and pine, crossed several small creeks, and reached 
lit!! 2l considerable hill, up which we moved slowly and 
cautiously, and on reachinj^^ its summit about noon, 
took possession of "Cobb's II ill" without the firing 
of a gun. 

The view from Cobb's Ilili was a fine one. and 
very extensive. Looking to the southwest the 
Appomatox came flowing towards us. and on its 
banks stood the Rebel fort. Clifion ; beyond, and 
perhaps eight or ten miles distant, were the spires 
(»t Petersburg. The whole countr\ around la\' 
spread out like a carjjet at our feet, and the scene 
would have been anything but warlike hail it not 
been for the tramp of soldiers antl the rumble of 
artillery, which continued for hours as the troops 
hurried by our bivouac. These wen.' the Tenth and 
Mighteenth Corps which composed the Army of the 
James. 



recon- 
naissance. 



2§ih RegL, Mass. Vols. 265 
Cobb's Hill is about eighteen miles from Rich- 

T Rfi A 

mond. It was said that Petersburg could have been 
taken at this time if our troops had been pushed 
ahead at once, as there were few Rebel troops in 
the town. It is easy to tell what "might have been"; 
but it was not known then how many troops were 
there and if an error was made it was on the safe 
side, and the capture "was not to be." 

About 4 p. M. we were ordered to fall in, and our 
brigade, General Heckman in command, with two 
pieces of artillery, started out on a reconnoissance. a 
We marched down the hill and through woody 
swamps and fields, a distance of three or four miles, 
when we heard shots fired in advance which denoted 
that we had found the enemy. We soon entered a 
large field and formed in close column by division ; 
some distance ahead was a rail fence, and beyond a 
railroad, behind the banks of which was the enemy 
we sought. Company A was sent to the right to 
act as flankers, and entering a wood on rising 
ground and coming to a halt, we witnessed with 
intense interest the movements going on so near. 

We saw our boys advance with skirmish line 
thrown out. The Rebels also sent out their line of 
skirmishers, and both advanced until it seemed, from 



1864. 



266 The Story of Compatiy A. 

our position, that ihc two lines were not more than 
five rods apart, and not a shot was fired by either. 
Meantime our artillery had opened on the enemy, 
and we could see every shot strike the embankment, 
— see the dirt lly. rails scatter, and the forms of men 
moving about. Soon the skirmishers were with- 
drawn, and the Rebels fired a volley into our boys, 
wounding some as we saw. The Twenty-seventh 
opened fire, the Twenty-fifth being held in reserve. 
The Ninth New Jersey changed their position on 
i\rt the field, receiving a hot fire from the enemy which 
Waiihai ^ K^oon returned. We saw General Heckman's 
horse throw u|> his head and sink tiown to the 
ground, dismounting his ritlcr. but the General took 
the horse of one of his aides, and (juictly mounted 
again. We heard his orders given, and also those 
of the Rebel commander. 

We expected to see our boys charge and chive 
the enemy from their position. l)ut they began slowly 
to retire ; and about 7 r. m. we received orders to 
rejoin the Regiment. It seems instructions were, 
not to bring on an engagement, but to find the 
enemy ; this we accomplished, and we reached our 
bivouac on Cobb's Hill at 10 i*. m. I'he loss to the 
Twenty-fifth was four killiHl and fifii-cn woumled. 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 267 

This, our first fight in Virginia, is known as Port 

Walthal Junction. 

May 7th, at 8 a. m., we were again in motion, 
marching over nearly the same route as before, and 
found ourselves near the place of yesterday's en- 
gagement. On the ground lay our dead, which for ^''"^'""'"^ 

dead. 

some reason — I know not why — had been left on 
the field where they fell. The bodies had been 
stripped of their clothing ; the enemy could rob the 
dead, but could not give time to bury them. A party 
was now detailed to perform that service. Prisoners 
taken here said the robbery was the niggers work 
— possible, but not very probable. 

We found the enemy strongly posted, and our 
artillery got into position at once, with the infantry 
at supporting distance laying on the ground in a 
ploughed field. It was a terribly hot day, and as ^^^ 
the hours went by many men were sun-struck. Xwjunction. 
Company A eight men suffered from the intense 
heat, three of whom were carried from the field and 
did not return to the Company for several days. 

Meanwhile an artillery duel was going on, shot 
and shell flying over our heads as we lay here. It 
was exciting to watch the enemy's shot as they ap- 
proached us — they could be plainly seen. At one 



268 The Story of Company A. 



1864. 



lime ihc Rebels tired chunks of irt)n rails at us, and 
these came wabbling along through the air causing 
a deal of mirth among our boys. We were startled 
by a flash of light, and a loud explosion : a well 
directed shell from our batter)- had penetrated a 
Rebel caisson, causing the explosion. It was said that 
when General Heckman saw this he declared that 
it paid him for the loss of his horse llu- day before. 
On our right we could see General iirooks's di- 
j^^ vision hotl)' engaged ; with loud cheers they dashed 
Chaier- forward to fall slowly back. Again they made a 
^ ' charire. and from the artillery we heard the heaviest 
firing of the day. This time it was a success ; Brooks's 
men drove the eneni) , and they wiilulrew their ar- 
tiller)' from our front, and all was quiet in our vi- 
cinity. Brooks had destroyed the railroad, taken 
many prisoners, and a victor)' had been won. .About 
5 I'. M. we started for our cainp on Cobb's Hill. 
This engagement was known as "Cheslcrlield 
Junction." 

May Slh we began to fortif)' Cobb's Hill, and on 
the 9th, at about 5 r. m., we left our camp, and suc- 
ceeded in getting as far as the railroad between 
Petersburg and Richmond without opposition. We 
destroyed the railroad, broke llu- telegraph wires, 



1864. 



2sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 269 

and pushed on towards Petersburg. We encoun- 
tered a small body of the enemy, and drove them 
across Swift Creek. Our skirmishers were now 
firing rapidly, and the enemy opened on us with 
their big guns ; l)ut we pushed forward through 
woods, and formed in line of battle near Arrowfield May 9. 
Church. The right of the Twenty-fifth rested on JJJ' 
the Petersburg turnpike, and at this point was a church. 
section of our artillery. We commenced firing at 
once, as is customary in battle — that is, "at will," 
The boys were working like beavers, evidently 
firing to some purpose ; but it was seen that the 
enemy were about to charge. Colonel Pickett took 
in the situation, and while we were doing our level 
best we received the order, "Cease firing," which 
was promptly obeyed. The men finished reloading 
their rifles, and stood waiting. We did not under- 
stand the "why" of this order, but we soon found 
out. The enemy were ready, had set up an infernal 
yell, and were coming at double-quick ; but no fur- 
ther order came to us. The Rebels were fast short- 
ening the distance between their line and ours, and 
we were getting anxious, but finally hear the cau- 
tionary command, "Steady, men, wait for the word"; 
and the Twenty-fifth Regiment stood as steady and 



270 The Story of Company A. 

silent as if on tircss parade. On came the yelling 

1864. , , ...... , 

horde until within — it seemed to us — not over 

twenty-five yards. It was an an.xious ami critical 
moment, and it atTorded Colonel Pickett an oppor- 
tunity to see of what stuft his rej^iment was made. 

May 9- Suddenly came the onler : "'rwenty-fiflh. ready"; 
itU ^^^^ ^^^^ clockwork every rilU- was in position ; 

Ckmr<k "Aim. " and every eye was glancing along a rille 
barrel ; " Fire." aiul that volley, almost like a single 
shot, sent death antl dismay into that Rebel 
host. 

The ertect was like an electric siiock. 1 he long 
line of gray was thrown into the wiklest disorder — 
shattered — broken into fragments. Their men fell 
by scores, and the ground was literally coverei! witli 
the dead and wounded of that Rebel regiment. .So 
fierce was iheir charge that several of their men 
were actually forcetl clear into our line and were 
made prisoners. It was a most gallant charge, and 
it met with a terrible and bloody repulse. 

It was in vain the enemy trietl to form for another 
charge ; we kept up such a deadly fire that it was 
inijjossible. They fell back out of range, anil 
troubleil us no more. .Meantime how fared it 
with our boys? N<jbly they stood the shock, but 



2^tJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 271 

they, too, had fallen by scores. Company A had 



T ^f\A 

only twenty-seven men in line at this fight, and of 
this number nine were wounded — ^just one third. 
Many of Company A were on detached service, 
others sick in hospital, and the Company was smaller 
than most of the others at this time. 

While the fight was going on the smoke from the 
guns settled thick around us. and the noise was 
absolutely deafening. As the boys fell out wounded 
they were taken to the rear and the line closed up, 
and the firing went on as steadily as ever. How Bravery 
bravely the boys stood up to it ! How the sweat "'' 

boys. 

rolled off their faces ! Lieutenant Bessey was struck 
in the breast, but fortunately the wound was a slight 
one. He called for a pipe, and seating himself on a 
stump, cheered on the boys as if nothing had hap- 
pened, — no white feather about that man. 

Amidst all the horrors of the situation — dead and 
dying all around us — an "incident" occurred which 
shows how the ludicrous and sad are sometimes 
strangely blended. There was in the Company a 
new recruit named James Kerwin, a short, good- 
natured Irishman, who, while the fight was raging, 
was struck by the fragments of a shell and both legs 
wounded. Jimmy fell to the ground making the 
35 



273 The Story of Company A. 

(liiL'crcsi noises, and rolling about so stran^a*ly that 

1864. 

it was absolutely comical. Seri^eant Burr stepped 

up to hini and said: "Is that \c)u. Jimmy? Are 
jtmmy yo" bit?" "Oh," saiil Jimmy, "oh Serj^eant dear, 
Ktru'tn it'jj p^j. tliai's hit, and both ov me lej^^s is shpih in- 
tirely." Tins was too much, ami the boys lauj^hed 
heartily; and the firinj^ w(.-ni on, ceasing only when 
the Rebels were out of reach, and all was (juiei in our 
front. 

■The n^jht was over, and with Comrade Arthur 
W'iiite of Company H (a Leicester boy and a brave 
one), I strolled over liic field, and in our immediate 
vicinity — that is, directly in front of our regimental 
line — we counted over seventy dead and wounded, 
Kthti scattered about, anil in little heaps of three or four 
^A-tf./ tfW together. From the wounded ones we learned what 
troops we hatl been fighting; and it certaini) is a 
remarkable fact that the Twenty-fifiii South Carolina 
and the 'rwenlj-fiUh Massachusetts had mcl in a 
fair fight." The result we have seen. 

It might be thought that with so much firing more 
men would have been killed and wounded in our 
front ; but it should be remembered that the 1 wen- 
ty-fifth Regiment of 1864 was not the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment of 1S61. It left Massachusetts one 



2sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 273 

thousand strong, but at this time there was not 

over half that number in the ranks. The regimental ^ ^' 
line was hardly three hundred and fifty feet long, 
and it was in front of this line that so many Rebel 
dead and wounded were found. 

The following is a correct list of the wounded of 
Company A at this battle : 

Lieutenant M. B. Bessey, breast. 

Sergeant T. M. Ward, leg. 

Private L. J. Prentiss, groin (very severe. He 

died from the effects). 
Private Augustus Stone, right arm (amputated). ^'""'" 

of the 

Private Charles H. Knowlton, hand (three fin- ummded. 

gers lost) . 
Private Charles A. Mayers, leg. 
Private James White, leg. 
Private James Kerwin, both legs. 
Private Nelson Tiffany, groin (severe). 
Entire loss to the Twenty-fifth Regiment, sixty 
men. 

After the fight parties were detailed to bury the 
dead as usual. Pits were dug say six or eight feet 
square, and four or five feet deep, in which the dead 
were placed as quickly as possible, one row on 



2 74 ^^'^ Story of Company A. 

another, and hurrieclly covered with earth — a sicken- 

1864. 

injtj sij^ht. \ ct this is "Glorious W ar." 

Ni^ht coming on coKI. wr prepared for a cheerless 
bivouac the best we could. We I;i\' on our arms 
that nij^ht — that is. with rillcs i)\ our sides ready to 
jump into line at a minute's notice. In the morninj^j 
we were relieved, and fell back to our camp on 
Cobb's Hill. This battle took place near the old 
weather-beaten buildin^^^ known as Arrowfield 
Church, from which the l)attl(* takes its name. 

On tlie I2lh ol Ma\ we were ordered oti again in 
AgoiH "'li^ht marching order. .Many boys left their rubber 

Motion. 

blankets behind ; this proved a mistake, for we were 
gone live ilaNs. every one of them cold antl wet. 
I he rubber blanket shouki always go with the sol- 
dier, and the woolen one too. if possible. During 
these cold, wet nights we suffered a great ileal. We 
had more or hrss fighting every ilay. 

The first ilay we discovered the enemy about 
noon, and drove them acn^ss Proctor's Creek, aiul 
halteil for the night in the etlge of a wooil. On 
this day. while lying on the ground in line. Comrade 
DeatM ,/ William Holman was struck by a bullet intemli-d. no 
doubt, for a mounted officer rKJing in our Iront. 
This was lh«; only bullet thai reached us at this time; 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 275 



and if we had been standuig in tlie same place 

probably Holman would not have been hit. He ' ^' 
moaned pitifully, was taken to the rear, where he 
soon died, and we saw him no more. 

The next day (May 13th) we were ordered for- 
ward, and entering a thick wood, the Regiment 
marched through in line, the skirmishers encoun- 
tering the enemy's pickets and driving them to their 
works at Drewry's Bluff. On reaching the edge of 
the woods we were in sight of the enemy''s en- 
trenchments, and received their fire at once. 

We were ordered to lay down, and for hours we 
had shot and shell fl)'ing over us. Many of the 
boys went to sleep in this situation, undisturbed by 
the noise of the firing. Once a shell burst directly 
over our line, and incjulry was made if anyone was 
hit. Some raised their heads and looked about, but 
hearing no reply, curled down again ; and it was not 
known until some time after — certainly more than 
an hour — that Comrade Henry Gouldinp- was killed. J"', "^ 

■' " (rOHlaiflg. 

A portion of the shell had struck him on the back 
between the shouldiers, killing him instantly. He 
died without a groan. 

Skirmishers were thrown out, and succeeded in 
keeping the enemy's guns pretty quiet for two days 



i864. 



276 The Story of Company A. 

(oh fatal ilelay). thouj^h more or less firin<^ was 
going on all the time. W'c had changed our posi- 
tion, and were now luarer the enemy's works iIkui 
at first, behind a weak line of breastworks made of 
logs, rails, and earth thrown up with l)ayonets and 
tin cups, for we had no intrenching tools. 

On the 15th our brigade lu-ld the right of the 
army, and the regiments were in line in this order: 
extreme right. Ninth New Jersey ; then followed the 
Twent\ -third. Twenty-seventh, and Twenty-fifth 
Massachusetts. The space between the Ninth New 
Jersey and the James river was occupied by a few 
colored cavalrymen. During the night ot the 151I1 
there were several attempts to break through our 
line, which were repulsed ever\ time with severe 
loss to the enem\. Later a heavy fog settled down 
over the whole country around, so dense that at a 
tlistance of two or three rotls nothing could be seen. 
May 16. Under cover of this fog. about 4 o'clock on the 
/..;////../ j^.,fj^,^jp^ of the 1 6th, the Rebels made an attack on 

Drrwry s '^ 

/i/nf. our right, and, after ht-avy fighting, succeeded in 
crushing the Ninth Xiw Jersey, and turning our 
right ; and before wi- were aware ol it. had gained 
our rear. .\l the same lime we wire engaged in 
front, an assault being made along our whole line. 



25tJi Regt,, Mass. Vols. 277 
In this horrid gloom, the yells of the advancing- 

T Rfiyi 

enemy, the musketry firinc/, and the roar of the ar- „ 

■/ ^ May 16. 

tillery, were sounds terrible to hear, and madly ex- Batiu of 
citing. Soon the regiments on our rio-ht came '""'''^'^ 

"^ BliijJ. 

rolling down upon us, crushed and broken. The 
Twenty-fifth gallantly repulsed the impetuous 
charges of the Rebels in front, and unflinchingly 
held their position alone after the whole line, right 
and left, had been broken and swept away by the 
overwhelming force of the enemy. Lieutenant 
Daly, in command of the right flank, Company K, 
reported the perilous condition of affairs on the ^" P^^'^- 
right, but the Colonel replied that he had no orders 
to retire, and that he proposed to hold on at all 
hazards. He directed Daly to deploy his company 
to the rear at right angles with our line, and check 
the flanking force. The Rebels advancing in large 
numbers, immediately overpowered and captured 
most of his company. 

Company A, under command of Lieutenant Burr, 
was now ordered to the rear as skirmishers, to check, 
if possible, the tide which seemed about to over- 
whelm us. VVe soon saw dimly through the fog 
forms of men moving about, and, approaching 
nearer, noticed that some had on blue coats ; and 



278 The Story of Company A. 

supposing they must be our own men, one of Com- 



1864. 



' pany A sunj^^ out : "What rej^iment are you ?" "We 
Bmititfjzx^ Rebels, damn you; take tliat!" was the reply; 
'T7 * and the whistling: of bullets told us what they meant. 
"Good for you, Johnny ; take it back again," was 
the retort of the A boys, w ith the same accom|)ani- 
ment. \\\\\. of what use was it ? We were a thin line 
of skirmishers, antl it was plain to be seen that there 
was at least a regiment in front of us. We soon, 
obeying orders received, (juickly moved off by the 
right llank. narrowly escaping capture. 

The enemy advanced and opened fire on the 
Regiment at not over lwtiu\ yards distance. This 
was indeeil a most critical moment. Hotly engaged 
with the enem\' in front, and now receiving a heavy 
fire in the rear, tin- Regiment was simply sur- 
rounded. There ^vas a single chance left. Instantly 
we were faced to the rear and ordered to charge ; 
and with a cheer the Regiment rushed upon the 
A (kargt Rebel line, pouring a tleatlly volley into their ranks, 
'^""^and throwing them into such disorder that l)elor(* 
they could be rallied 1>\ lluir officers our Colonel 
had given the order : "Hy ihi- right llank: and we 
had marched around the enemy's left lo iln- rear, 
ready for them again upon an\ thing like ecpial terms. 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 279 

The conduct of the Twenty-fifth at the Battle of 

Drewry's Bkiff was magnificent and beyond all words ^ "*' 
ot praise. The perilous position they were placed 
in was a trying test of their courage and soldierly 
qualities ; and nothing but their excellent discipline 
and JDrompt obedience to orders saved the entire 
Regiment from capture. Cool and undaunted they 
waited for orders, and they received them. They 
had unqualified confidence in their commander, 
and to his prompt and decisive action they owe their 
marvelous and brilliant escape. 

But Company A did not all escape, as the follow- 
ing list will show : Loss in 

Corporal Walter H. Richards, killed. 

Private John A. Coulter, wounded. 

Private Francis Greenwood, wounded. 

Corporal Jerome H. Fuller, captured. 

Private Amos E. Stearns, captured. 

Private Charles E. Benson, captured. 

Private B. C. Green, captured. 

Comrades Goulding and Holman had been killed 
two days before, so, all told. Company A lost nine 
men in the fight at Drewry's Bluff. 

In this fight we lost our brigade commander, 
36 



28o The Story of Company A. 

General Hcckman. who was taken prisoner. Captain 

liel^er. with a portion ol his battery, was also 
cajitured. Our hrii^aile (ist) had lost, since we 
y/ /,„landed at Bermuda Hundred twelve days before, 
almost eleven hundred men. The Twenty-fifth 
Rejjiment in the same time lost over three hundred 
men. while Company A lost eighteen. 

General Heckman. and Colonel Lee of the Iwen- 
ty-seventh. both beinj^ ca|)tured, the command of 
the brii^Mde devolved upon Colonel Pickett, leaving 
Lieutenant-Colonel Moulton in commantl of the 
TwentN-hfth. Colonel l*iik<-tl railitnl the brij^^ade, 
forming line of battle half a mile to the rear of the 
original line in the morning. During the day ilil- 
ferent positions were occupied, holding the enemy 
in check. About 5 i'. m. we fell back tow'iirds our 
camp at Cobb's 1 lill. which we reached at 10 o'clock. 
General Stannartl. a few days later, assumed com- 
mand of the brigade, and Colonel Pickett again to(^k 
charge of his own regiment. 
An "incident" occurretl during the fight at Drewrys 
^^ Hluff that was highly amusing. Private Sidney 

iMciJtnt Atkinson, a tall N'ankee recruit, iluring the struggle 
in the fog was taken j)risoner by a scpiad of Rebels. 
He had been in the hal)il of carrying, attached to 




Batlle-fieldofOrewry'sBlyif 

May 1.3. I,-.;..'.. 



sai c^ 

K|l' I Ir.,,,.. „ . 



.1^ 



2stJi Regt., Mass. Vols. 281 

his belt, a small hatchet ; and when taken prisoner 

almost the first words said to him by his captors ^ ^' 
were : "Well, Yank, I reckon we'll take that hatchet." 
Atkinson replied : "I suppose you will, Johnny," 
and gave it up at once. He noticed as they marched 
along that his captors had lost their w^ay in the fog 
and were trying to find their men. Atkinson cooly 
said : " Look here, Johnnies, I was over this ground 
this very morning. I know where we are and where 
your men are. I'll show you ; come on." He quietly 
led off, his captors as quietly following; and in less ThetabUs 
than two minutes he led them into the presence of '''"'"^'^• 
our own men. The Rebels saw the joke at once, 
and cursed their "damned stupidity." "Now, 
Johnny," said Atkinson, "I guess Fll take that 
hatchet"; and he did. 

The following extract from a letter of Captain 
Emerson Stone of Spencer to the writer, shows that 
the promise made by the prisoners captured by us 
at Roanoke Island in 1862, to make return for our 
kindness to them while in our hands, if it was ever 
in their power, was not forgotten : 



282 The Story 0/ Cotupany A. 
I Mas capturctl May i6lh, 1S64, by "Wise's Brigade" of Vir- 



1864, ginians, ihe same men who surrendered lo us at Roanctke Island 
in '6i. My captor was a tall, fine-looking man, who on learning 
what regiment I belonged to. at onre declared his intention of 
standing by me. ami doing for me all that was in his power to alle- 
viate niy sufferings, this in pur>>uance of a resolve formeil, as he said, 
by their entire brigaiie after their exchange at Roanoke, to treat there- 
after every Yankee that the fortunes of war might throw into their 
hands with the greatest possible kin<lness. in repayment of the 
courteous treatment which they receivc«l at our hands as |)risoners 
of war. Right n»yally tlid he fulfill his vow, for no (ine could have 
KtHJnen showed greater kindness than he showed lo me. He Iniund up 

rtf^tJ. and stanched my wounds at first, then brought water to refresh 
me, placing at the same time the contents of his haversa<k at my 
disposal ; protected me from the cuvetdus desires of his needy 
comrailes, who sought to replenish their long neglected wardrol>es 
at my expense ; and in every way seemcil anxious to show his 
sympathy aiul willingness to help me. 

Reaching the hospital he asked the surgeon in charge to look 
at mv wounds, and secured his early ser>'ices, as well as a sinrcial 
guard detailed to care for me and look after all my wants until the 
surgeon called for me. Ihen taking from his shoulders his own 
bbnket, he < arefully pla< ed it under me, and after arranging me 
as comfortably as possible, s;iid he was obliged to rejmrt to his 
command, and bade me a feeling good-bye. I have often re- 
gretted that I did n<»t learn the name of this whole-souled man 
whose large heart was filled with humanity, although covered with 
the Rel)cl "gray" ; anti I woul«l to-day, after the lapse of so main- 
years, give the l>est hundred dollars I ever saw for the privilege of 
grasping him by the hand. 

I will aild that I subsecpiently received the same kind treatment 
from the surgeon who amputated my arm, who was al.so a kind- 
hearted man ; but I have always surmisetl that his interest in me 
was stimulatecl by the wt)rds or efforts of my kind captor, wlu) so 



25th Regt., Mass. Vols. 283 

faithfully stood by me — an enemy — in my hour of sore distress. 



Do not wonder that I have a kindly feeling for Wise's Brigade of 1864. 
Virginians, and esi)ecially for my unknown generous captor, and 
that I often breathe fur him a jjrayer for heaven's richest blessings. 

General Heckman has claimed, in a letter pub- 
lished in a Northern paper, that the Rebel loss in 
our front at Drewry's Bluff was estimated at over '^'"^T"' 
four thousand, which was many more than owx ihckman. 
brigade numbered. He also stated that the mus- 
ketry firing was the severest he ever experienced. 
Our prisoners all reported the slaughter in our front 
as something terrible and unparalleled. 

F"or some days the troops were engaged day and 
night in strengthening our fortifications at Cobb's 
Hill. Almost daily the Rebels made an attack on 

On the 

some part of our line, but were easily repulsed. All defensive. 
this time we lay on our arms at night, and were 
turned out at two or three o'clock in the mornino-, 
ready for an attack. In one direction from our 
camp was a beautiful grove, but it was in the way 
of our guns. Pioneers were sent into this grove, 
and in forty-eight hours it had disappeared. In 
forty-eight hours more a heav)' line of earthworks 
extended over the spot, and cannon looked down 
into the valley below. These works reached from 



284 The Story of Company A. 

the James river to the Appomatox. below Port 

W alihal. 

This work continued until the 27th of May, when 
orders were receivetl to move a^ain. so we marched 
a few miles ami bivouacked for the ni^ht. The next 
day we moved to City Point, crossing the Ap- 
pomatox over a pontoon bridj^je ; and once more 
jroinj^j on board transport steamers, were soon sail- 
\v\<^ tlown the James. W'c reached the \'ork river, 
and passintj up that anil the Pamunky. arrived at 
White House Landini,' May 30th. 

The weather was tine as we sailed tlown tiiat 
w ./Wi^'A/ b^.jii,tiful stream, the James; and tlie entire trip to 
'*" White House Lantlinj; was in striking contrast to 
what we had l)eirn through of late. The \'ork river 
is mucli smaller than tiie James, but still a noble 
stream, while the Pamunky is so crooked that a 
vessel will sail towards all points of the compass in 
making the ascent. 

On the 31st of .May we marched all day. and 

about midnight, while passing through an extensive 

forest, we ran on to the pickets of (irant's army. 

Army He had been fighting his way through the Wilder- 

'^ ""* ness. and we had. at last, joineil the Akmv 01 tiik 

PoTU.M.M . 



1864. 



2sth RcgL, Mass. Vols. 285 

Our march from the White House was througli 
a good country, reminding us of New England. Hy 
the roadside we passed grape vines, cedar, shrubbery 
of oak, and blackberry bushes — much like the coun- 
try roads in Massachusetts. 

June 1st opened as fine as could be desired, but 
by the middle of the day the heat was intense, and 
many soldiers were completely exhausted by the 
march. For many miles the road, which was heavy •'"''"^''^ 
with dust, had been strewn with dead horses and 
mules, and the stench from them was horrible. 
About 4 o'clock in the afternoon we found our- 
selves before the enemy's intrenchments at Cold 
Harbor. 

June 2nd our brigade was under fire nearly all 
day, and at night the enemy charged our lines, but 
were repulsed with a heavy loss. Our army was in 
line at this time in the following order : Ninth Corps Battle of 
(Burnside) on the right, then came the Fifth Corps ^'"''^ 
(Warren), Eighteenth Corps (Smith), Sixth Corps 
(WVight), and on the extreme left the Second 
Corps (Hancock). Sheridan with his cavalry 
covered our left at the Chickahominy river, while 
W^right's cavalry guarded our right. The line of 
battle at Cold Harbor was six miles long. 



286 ^ ii^' Story of Company A, 

Rations and ammunition were ^iven out. and uc 

laid on the erountl that nivrht to i»:ct what sleep we 

June 3. " j-i f» I 

could, for "there was to he terrible work on the 
morrow." June 3d was a black day in the calendar 
of the Twenty-fifth Rej^^iment. 

We left t)ur bivouac in the early morning, moved 
a short distance, and laid down again under cover 
of thin woods. We had caught glimpses of the 
enemy's earthworks, and saw their immense strength. 
We felt that it woukl be almost an impossibility to 
take the works in our front. W <• km \v that be- 
hind those works were thousands of brave men with 
^"'"'''^''rines. awaiting our approach ; and wr knew those 
intrenchments were lined with batti-rics. W C knew 
it meant slaughter for us to make the attempt ; and 
gloomy forebodings settled tlown over the whole 
regiment. 'I'he Twenty-fifth at this time had only 
three hundred men in the ranks, and the whole 
brigade of four regiments numbered scarcely fifteen 
hundr(.'d men. 

All these things we talked over as we laid on thtr 
ground under the trees. A liitlc ravine was near, 
through which lloweil a small rivulet — a nu-re 
thread of water ; ami we were partially protected by 
a slight elevation on our right. We calculated the 



25tJL Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 287 

chances, and wc felt that they were terribly against 

us ; but to "obey orders" is a soldier's duty. "Wait ^ ^' 

June 3. 

for a time to die ! " Battu of 

We were In close column by division at this time //,J^^^ 
— that Is, a front of two companies In a division — 
five divisions. We heard loud cheering on our left, 
and artillery firing rapidly. We knew our boys 
were making an assault on the enemy's line. We 
could only guess at the result. An officer passed 
by and reported Hancock successful. 

"Forward!" The hour had come. We moved 
slow^ly up the slight elevation, beyond which a 
thousand deaths awaited us. No man faltered, 
and only the wounded ones fell out ; for we were 
under fire all the time while lying under the trees. 
We gained the front and were obliged to oblique to 
the right somewhat, to place us In proper position. 
We were at once under a murderous fire. The 
enemy's works were directly in front. Colonel 
Pickett was marching at the head of the Regiment, 
and at this moment waved his sword over his head, 
and shouted his orders: "Come on, boys; forward, The 
double-quick. Charge ! " We dashed forward with '''■'"'s^- 
a cheer. The enemy's earthworks In our front, 
perhaps twenty rods distant, were enveloped in 
37 



288 The Story of Company A. 

smoke and llamc. and volley after voile)- of nuis- 

kelrv sent bullets through our ranks like hail. At 

June 3. ' *^ 

ita/z/c 0/ the same moment we received an enfiladint;^ tire of 
''^*' artillery on both rii/ht and left flanks. 

Harbor. ^ *^ 

The slaughter was fearful. Colonel Pickett went 
down with a bad wound in the hij). and the j^^round 
was thickly covered with the deatl and wounded — 
Tkt and so (|uickly done. The enemy kept up such an 
*""**'' incessant hre that to stand uj) against it ami live was 
impossible. .So to escape utter annihilation we 
dropi)etl to the !j;n»unil and siul)bornly held the 
positit)!! we wi-re in. and — an actual lact — with 
tin cups, knives, bayonets, and our hands, threw uj). 
jjainfully and shnvly, a low bank of earth, which in 
a measure protected us from the enemy's fire ; and 
the hours dra^<^ed slowly alon^^ until ilark, when 
intrenchin<: tools were brou<du. and rei^ular earth- 
works were made antl rille |)its du^;. 

Ikii^adier-Cieneral P. D. liowles of the Confed- 
erate Army, in a letter jjrinled in the Philadelphia 
Weekly Times of January 31, 1SS5. describes this 
charge of the Twenty-fifth as he saw it from the 
Rebel intrenchments. His account is as follows: 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 289 

On looking over the works I disc^overed what I supposed to be 

one regiment, with a single tkig, and an officer in front with sword 1864. 
raised high in the air, calling on his men to charge. I ordered 
my command to place their guns on the works and wait for orders. 
When the advancing line reached within seventy yards I ordered 
my line to fire, when the whole of the Federal regiment fell to the 
ground save one man, who ran back to the edge of the woods and Confed- 
attempted to hide behind a white oak tree, but was completely ^^'^'^ 
riddled by fifty balls in less time than it takes to write it. tesiimony. 

The heroic regiment that made this gallant charge was the 
Twenty-fifth Massachusetts, which was the only regiment that 
obeyed orders to advance. This we learned from the twenty odd 
officers and men who fell down among the dead and wounded at 
the first fire. The balance of the brigade had refused to go for- 
ward, and not since the charge of the three huntlred at Balaklava 
has a more heroic act been performed. 

In this charg-e of the 3d of June the Twenty-fifth 
Regiment lost, in killed, wounded and missing, two 
hundred and twenty men out of three hundred and 
thirteen, leaving for duty, June 4th, less than one 
hundred men, Company A losing fifteen out of 
thirty. All this happened within a few minutes of 
time, for nearly all fell during the charge. 

The followinof is a list of the killed, wounded and 
missing of Company A : 

Killed : Private F. B. Brock. 
Ira Lindsey. 
' ' Sidney J. Atkinson (he of the 
hatchet). 



i864- 



290 The Story of Company . I. 

Wounded: First Lieut. M. H. Bessey, shoulder. 
Second Lieut. Geo. Burr. head. 
First Ser^t. S. H. Putnam, sHght. 
l^^^ ^i^rgt- Frank Wrij^ht, side. 

^'•^•^ Corporal (>. V. .Stearns, hij). 

^^"^'' '• 1.. j. ICKvell. shoulder. 

Private 1.. \\ . Stone, severe. 

.\. 1 ). Whilcomh. head, 
j. Madden, j^roin. 
Missing: Cor|toral Walter .S. Bugbee. 
Private 11. W. Dryden. 
Charles O'Xeil. 

The wound of Colonel Pickett ua-> a very se- 
vere one. and he was absent from his command 
^ , . for several months. He rejoined the Regiment at 
puktti. New Berne in November. 1864. lie was then suf- 
fering severely from his wound, and being ilisabletl 
from further duty "Our Captain" left the service in 
January. 1S65, with the rank of Brevet Brigadier- 
General, this honor having been conferred upon 
him for gallant and meritorious services during the 
war. 

The 4th of June was j)assed cpiietly behimi the 
works. l)ut on the 5th there was fighting all day 



2^th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 291 

long. At this time the stench from the dead bodies 

between the opposing hnes was dreadfid. Parties 
were sent out at night, and in the darkness and 
silence tried to bring in the wounded. A flag 
of truce had been sent to the enemy before this, 
to make arrangements to bury the dead, but with 
no success. 

On the 7th cannonading was kept up all day, and 
men were killed at times, half a mile in the rear of 
our works. A second time a llaor of truce was sent, 
which was successful, and fatigue parties went out 
from both sides, and the dead were buried. While 
this was going on there was no firing along \.\\q Burial 0/ 
lines, and the stillness that ensued seemed very 
strange to us. The truce was only for two hours, 
and it was a hurried job, this burial of the dead. It 
was a singular spectacle as we mounted on top of 
our earthworks and looked over the ground. The 
Rebels did the same while the burial of the dead 
went on. When the time was up a signal gun was 
fired, and the detailed parties made haste back to 
their respective places ; and then it would have been 
death to show a head above either line of works. 

The 8th of June was a beautiful day, but very hot 
and severe for the boys in the rifle pits. At night 



292 The Story of Company A. 

tlu- miliiar)' bands vt{ both armies plajcd. The 

1864. ... 

I iiion haiuls plaNctl The Star Span^dcd lianner. 

Red. White and Blue, and N'ankee Doodle, while 
the Rebel bands gave us Dixie and The Bonnie 
lilue l-'lag. 

The 9th. loth and iiih of June passed away 
without actual fighting. i)ut a constant tuing was 
kept Uj3. 

The Twenty-fifth had lantieti at Bcrnuida liun- 
dred on the 5th of Ma)' with seven hundretl splen- 
did veterans. One month's fighting in the rear of 
Richmond reduced this numl)er to a trifle over three 
hundred ; and tlu- morning after thtr iiatlle of Cold 
""^*' Harbor (June \\\\) there were onK' one hundred 

ia<rifiie. 

men fit for duty. "The gallant six luunlred." where 
were they? Killed, wounded, in h()sj)iial, and liown 
in Southern prisons. This was war ant! its ilej>lor- 
able results. It was a terrible sacrifice, but it was 
for the Union and the llag, antl our counir) was 
saveil by the l)lood of its heroes. 

It was now ebb tide with the Tweniy-fifih Regi- 
ment. .Six officers and less than one lunulred men 
were all that remained for tluty. This shows the 
wear and tiar of regiments and brigades in active 



2 §fh Re of., Mass. Vols. 293 

service — that terrible drain of men l^oing on con- 

stantly, and which all the recruits could not replace. 

One day, at Cold Harbor, Lieutenant George A. 
Johnson of Company G, formerly Orderly Sergeant 
of Company A (Old Posey), was wounded in the 
rear, and a stretcher was called to take him away. Another 
He was carried slowly a short distance, and as the """^^"'■ 
bullets were flying thickly around, he became un- 
easy, and finally jumped oft^ and made a straight 
line for the rear, saying: "I can't wait for no 
damned stretcher." As he passed along on his way 
to the hospital tent, with blood streaming from his 
wound, he met the commanding general, who said : 
" Lieutenant, don't you want a stretcher?" "Lve 
got one coming,' was the reply. "Are you badly 
wounded?" " Nothing but a shot in the rear!''' 
said Johnson ; "Guess it won't aniount to much !" 

It would hardly be fair to pass by the "Dog of 
the Regiment" without some notice. When the 
Regiment left Worcester Company A had two pup- 
pies as pets. They were christened Whiskey and our dog 
Brandy, and were well cared for. Brandy was a ^vuiskey. 
good dog and died young, but Whiskey, on the 
contrary, continued to thrive, going out with the 
pioneers at New Berne, going on marches with the 



1864. 



294 '^^'^' ^f'^**'}' ^^f Company . /. 

Rejjimcnt. ami j)articij3atin}^' in ncarh all the battles 
ii) Colli Harbor. At this battle the do^ was wounded 
by a riile ball, and found his way to the hospital, 
where the ball was taken out and j^iven to the 
Orderly Serj^eanl of C\)m|jany A. Whiskey was 
well careil for at the hospital, but in the movement 
of trt)ops after the fi^^du the poor dotj was lost, and 
we never saw him aj^ain. 

The Ctjmpaii)' A l)<))s taken prist)ners at Cold 
Harbor fell into the hands of North Carolina troops, 
some of whom were amoni; those captured \)\ us at 
Roanoke. ( )ii U-arnin^ what regiment our l)o)s 
belonged to these men treated them with all possible 
kindness, and nobly redeemrd the jjromise made 
while our prisoners, to make return lor our kindness 
to them if they ever hail the o|)|)oruinit\ .^ 

Sunday, June 12th. pas.sed very ijuiell). with no 
more firing than usual. Captain (iootlwin. who 
had returneil a few days before, was now in com- 
Worki niand of Company A. After dark the boys were 
called in from the rifle pits, and we (piietly evacuated 
our works ; and marching all night, reached White 
House Lamling about 5 o'clock on the morning of 
the 15th. This night march was a vir\ hard one. 

• Sc« p.iK«^ <JO- 



1864. 



2^tJL Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 295 

and on reaching- the Landinor, g-uns were stacked, 
the boys dropped to the g-round, and many were 
instantly asleep. Some crawled on their hands and 
knees to the river's brink, two or three rods away, 
and drank like so many animals. They were com- 
pletely exhausted. 

We went on board transports ap-ain and steamed 

^ >=> Active 

down the crooked Pamunky and the York, up the cam- 
James, landing at 9 i-. m. of June 14th near our old >*'^'^'""^- 
camp. Four days' rations were cooked, and on 
the mornino- of the 15th, at 4 o'clock, we started off 
on a march. This was surely active campaigning. 

On the 15th we encountered the enemy, and our 
regiment having the right of the brigade, had an 
open corn field in our front. We marched in line ,, 
of battle to within perhaps three hundred yards oi ter -vith 
a Rebel battery situated on a hill to our left, and ^'"""y- 
came to a halt. The enemy opened on us at 
once with both musketry and artillery. They had 
our exact range, and we had one man killed and 
eighteen wounded in a few minutes. Captain 
Goodwin was wounded by a shell which exploded ^.^^/^,,„ 
very near his head, hitting him in the shoulder and Coodruin. 
in the face, from the effects of which he lost an eye. 
This shot came from the right, and not from the 
38 



296 The Story of Company A. 

baiter)' on ihe hill at the left. This was the last we 

saw of Captain Goodwin in Compatn A. He was 
mustered out the following October as Brevet Major. 
CajJtain Parkhurst moved us forward at ilouble- 
quick about one humlred yartls. This movement 
took us out of range of the enemy's guns, and 
though men were still wounded here, it doubtless 
saved many lives. Lieutenant Messey was hit once 

Btaeyt ^ ... 

«M>«Wi. more, this time in the foot, making three hits for him 
within a few tlays. Though Dame I'ortune scatters 
her gifts wilii a lavish hand, in battle she distributes 
them very une(jually. .Some are never wounded, 
others always are. Lieutenant Hesse\ was hit four 
times — yea, a fifth time was he toinlwd (which, b) 
the way. was scarcely mentioneil in the dispatches): 
yet with all this, and added to it the old army saying : 
"Three times and out" (death). Ik-ssey served 
through the war. and preserveil that good nature 
for which he was notetl. ik-ssey was irrepressible. 
I le was musterc«l out as Brevet Major in March. 
1.S65. 

We were orderetl to lie down, ami ail da\ long 
we were In this corn field uiulcr a scorching sun. 
with no i^rotection save what we obtained by pulling 
up the corn, which was about two Iret high, and 



2^t}i RcgL, Mass. lo/s. 297 

coverino; our heads with it. It was j:)rovokiniT to 

lay there as we did, hour after hour, and hardly fire 
a shot in reply to the Rebels, who were blazing 
away at us all the time. They would give us a few 
shells, then a solid shot would come roaring along 
and plough up the dust near us, then the rascals 
would get outside their works and fire at us with 
their rifles. We kept the enemy busy in this way 
while our troops got their guns into position. 

About suntlown we heard a heavy gun fired on 
our left, and looking at the Rebel batter)' saw a 
shell burst directly over it. Another shot was fired, 
then many in quick succession, and shells exploded Ba///^ 
thick and fast in that battery. The whole Regiment ''^'"' 
got up and watched with intense interest the move- />urg. 
ment now going on. Soon a long line of Boys in 
Blue was seen moving towards the battery. The 
line was somewhat broken as the boys made their 
way through the trees, which had been cut down 
and left to obstruct the way ; but they passed 
through them, and with wild cheers swarmed up the 
hill like bees. Shells from the Union guns were 
dropping into the battery every moment ; the Rebels 
attempted to reply, but it was of no use ; the place 
was too hot for them. Soon the Boys in Blue 



298 7/ft .SA>/ V of Company A. 

reached the enemy's works, and over they went on 

1864. 

one side while the Rebels departed over the other. 

Our Rej^imenl cheered enouj^h to split their throats. 

Then the j^uns of the battery were turned on the 

B«itery ^^V'^K enemy, and the fort was taken. Uown went 

laktm. il^^. Rebel ra^ and up went Old Glory. Nine ^uns 

and two hundretl {prisoners were rejjorted as the 

result of this t^^allant movenu-nt. 

A little later, just at dark, an advance was niatle. 
and Company A was thrown out to join the skirmish 
line already moving on our left, under command of 
the Orderly Serj^eant. .S. 11. I'utnam, all three of 
aJvan.f. the officers having been wounded. While advancing 
at double-quick, solid shot from some Rebel guns 
directly in front came over the line, but did no harm. 
A batter)' in this direction had made some trouble 
during the day — probably Captain (loodwin was hit 
by a shot from it. 

Still advancing, an earthwork was seen directi) in 
front : but the order was "b'orward !" and away the 
boys went over the breastwork, all together, fortu- 
nately finding the battery deserted. It had evidently 
been vacated but a few minutes, and in a great 
hurry, for blankets, clothing ami (•<jui|»nu-ius were 
sca^ttered an)und. ami a supper alreaily prepared 



2sth Re of., Mass. Vols. 299 

was left untouched. We found here two brass 

Napoleon guns, and caissons complete. Word was ^ ^' 
sent by Corporal Jimmy Green to Captain i^arkluirst, ^^"P'"''' 

of the 

commandmg the Regiment, who ordered Captain ^,„„_ 
Harrington with his company to draw the guns to the 
rear, which was done. This capture was represented 
in the papers of the day — New York Tribune and 
others — as having been achieved by Captain Har- 
rington and his company, when really the guns were 
taken by Company A under command of a non- 
commissioned officer. The Worcester Spy printed 
a letter giving a statement as above, signed by one 
of the members of Company A. When this paper 
reached the camp Captain Harrington accused our 
Orderly Sergeant of writing the letter, and claimed 
the great honor of having captured the guns, he, as 
he said, being a commissioned officer, and the 
skirmishers being under command of a non-com. 
The officer claimed it because he ivas an officer ; 
we claimed it because we did it. The affair was of 
no great importance anyway ; but if there was honor ^y^^ ^^^^^^ 
enough for an officer to claim, there was certainly 0/ u. 
enough for a few privates ; for the achievement was 
theirs, and theirs only. So much for the taking of 
these guns ; and simple justice requires that to 



300 The Story of Compixuy A. 

Company A shoukl be i/ivcn the credit which is, 

1864. • , . , 

most certainly, its due. 

Bfj^rt June i6lh Compan\ A numbered one sergeant. 

'''^'*' one corporal, and ei^^ht privates fit lor ikii\ . I'njm 
this time the Rej^iment jierformed duty in the forti- 
fications then being constructed Ijefore Petersburg. 
On the i6lhot"June, strange to say, the Regi- 
ment was tjuiet all day, but at night fell into line 
and marched several hours umler fire, getting back 
to our bivouac at midnight. The 17th was another 
(juiet day ; we movetl about two miles, still under 
fire. On the i8ih ilu- Regiineiu was postetl on the 
banks of the .Appomato.x river, directly in front ol 
the Rel)el intrenchments. rh<ir line e.xtended for a 
lon*j distance at nearly right angles with the river. 

The position of lli<- Regiment was a peculiar one. 
The bank (jf the river was forty or fifty feet above 
the water, and (|uite steep ; and we wcrc! on this 
bank, entirely hidden from the Rebel works. 'Ihe 
level grountl above could be entirely swept by the 

Anotkfr enemy's guns. .\ charge was ordered, and in ai- 

<hargf. ((.p,j,jip<r to obey, the Regiment was obligeil to get 
upon this ground, and the left was forced to swing 
around to the right to bring the whole line par 
allel to the enemy's works. When the order was 



z^tJi Regt., Mass. Vo/s. 301 

given this was attempted, but hardly had the men 



reached the level ground above when a line of men ^ ^" 
arose from behind the enemy's breastworks and ^^"""''''• 
poured in such a volley, that in an instant our line 
was cut down like grass, and the ground was covered 
with wounded men. 

The enemy's fire was incessant, and nothing hu- 
man could stand against it, so we fell back to our 
first position on the river bank. This attempt to 
charge the enemy's works resulted in a loss to the 
Regiment of six killed, and one officer (Captain 
Tucker) and twelve men wounded. Private Delany 
of Company A was killed, and E. B. Fairbanks and 
one other wounded. 

On the 19th we were relieved by the Sixth Corps 
and started for Bermuda Hundred, bivouacked one 
nioht, and reached our destination at 10 a. m. of the 

'=' _ Useless 

20th. We rested one day and one night, and then manh. 
marched back to our old intrenchments. We were 
now in the trenches before Petersburof, beingf alter- 
nately two days on duty and two da)'s in the camp 
at the rear. The Regiment had but one hundred 
and twenty-five men, including five officers. Com- 
panies A. C and K were now consolidated. 



302 Tilt' Story of Company A. 

I lie camp spoken of was situated in a ravine 

1864. 

about half a mile from the works, and although at 

this distance, it was commanded 1)\ the enemy's 
guns. A small stream of water ran throui^h this 
ravine, which afforded the boys the luxury of a bath. 
At this time Company A numbered twenty-six 
men and no officers. Soldiers were returning to 
the Compan\ from time to time, so the number 
varieil dail\ . 

Ihis kind of life was wearing l(j the men, firing 
going on constantly, night and day. (Jn the 30th 
of June, in the afternoon, we commenced shelling 
the eneni) . and about 5 v. m. lhc\ rei>lied. I-'or an 
hour we had the heaviest cannonading we had ever 
experienced, and yet ilu- Regiment, being behind the 
earthworks, had onl\ fixe men wounded, ami. sin- 
gular as it may seem, all these by a single shot. 
These men were grouped together, and the shot 
£.-. . , struck right in the midst of them ; one man had his 

r.fffft of '^ 

onf shot, foot taken off. another had a leg broken, a third 
was hit in the head, a fourth had both legs mangled, 
and the fifth received a slij^hi contusion on his side. 
The ball could not 1><- found. The men were taken 
to ihf iiospiiai. anil in ami)Utating the l<-g of one of 
them — Private rha\cr of Conipanx 1) — the ball was 



1864. 



2sth RegL, Mass. Vols. 303 

actually discovered in his thigh, and proved to be 
a three pound shell. 

July 4th, Lieutenant John \V. Davis of Company 
C, wishing- to have a moment's conversation with 
the Orderly Sergeant of Company A, advanced for 
that purpose in a stooping position to avoid the 
observation of the enemy. After having passed a 
few words of greeting, he unconsciously raised him- 

I.iettl. 

self. It was but for a moment, yet on the instant a Davis 
bullet struck him in the left shoulder, passing clean '"''""'^"^■ 
through his body, and lodged in the ground some 
rods to the rear. He placed his hand to his shoulder 
and exclaimed : "Sergeant, I'm a dead man," and 
fell to the ground. A stretcher was called and he 
was taken to the hospital tent. Lieutenant Davis 
survived this wound two years. He was a citizen 
of Worcester, and was for some time connected with 
the police force. He died August 2d, 1866, much 
regretted by those whose good fortune it was to be 
acquainted with him. 

While in another portion of the trenches nearer 
the enemy's line, a soldier was one day fatally shot 
in the head, and for a while our men were puzzled 
to know where the shot came from. Finally a sol- 
dier seated himself in the exact spot the wounded 
39 



304 J hi .^^u>ry uj (. onijuitiy . I. 

man occupied when he was struck, arul he noticed 

a large pine tree in the enemy's works. Watching 
he saw a puff of smoke come from the top of the 
tree, followed by tlie report of a ritle, so he con- 
ckided tliat a Rebel sharpshooter was concealed 
there. Several of our sharpshooters were called, 
and at a given signal all firetl into the tree ; a man 
was seen to fall from its branches, and we were 
troubletl lU) more by shots from that (juaricr. 

Some talk there was of "Ivxplosive Mullets. " but 
yr.i//4>mvl *^J'* 'i<>t remember seeing one wliilc in ilie service. 

hiJU/s. j^ member of Company A fountl near Williamsburg 
(1 think) a bullet about three inches long, having 
three blades which were intended to sjjread open as 
the bullet left the gun. It was a barbarous-looking 
affair. l)ul this was the onl\' one we ever saw. 

Bullet-proof vests were talked about to some ex- 
tent. These consisieil of two thin |jieces of steel 
made to fit the botly. which were to be worn one on 
either side and the cloth vest buttoned over them, 

/fW/<-/- as we were told, I never knew of any being used 

/*'■'«/ jpj jj^j^ way, and I nr\er saw but one. In this in- 

Vflft. ^ 

stance a soldier was cooking his "sublime lla|jjacks" 
in on<- of the sections. I rui\. everything is of 
some use. 



2Sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 305 

It has been estimated the entire length of the 



h'ne of earthworks around Petersburg was over one ^ ^* 
hundred miles. These works included thirty-six 
forts (some with bastions), and over fifty batteries. 
The main line consisted chiefly of solid banks of 
earth, high enough to shield the men as they stood 
behind them, and too thick to be easily battered 
down with cannon. Forts and batteries were built 
along the line at convenient distances, and on rising 
ground when possible. Some of the forts before 
Petersburg were very large, and were furnished 
with bomb proofs. These were usually constructed 

•' around 

of logs, six or eight feet high, and both top and Peurs- 
sides were so covered with earth as to be impene- ''"''^'' 
trable by shot or shell. The bomb proof at Fort 
Wadsworth was one hundred and fifty feet long and 
twelve feet wide. Some of these forts were fine 
specimens of military workmanship ; for instance, 
F"orts Fisher, Wadsworth and Sedgwick. Men with 
bold, brave hearts were required to attack and 
defend such places, but it was continually being- 
done before Petersburg. 

At Fort Stedman the distance between the Union 
and Rebel lines was scarcely six hundred feet. 
Between these were two picket lines — Union and 



3o6 The Story of Company A. 



1864. 



Rebel — two hundred feet apart. The men in these 
picket hnes were in rifle pits, eacli of which con- 
tained two or three men ; and ni^ht and day, in sun 
and rain, heat and cold, the men passed the weary 
hours in never tiring vij^ilance, knowing that upon 
them mij^ht depend the fate of an army. The only 
protection for the men in the rifle jjits was the 
small mount! of loose earth thrt)wn up in front of 
each, behind which they must keep entirely con- 
cealeil. 
Stfg( ■ Injm the Appomato.x river to I'Ort .Sedj^wick. a 
Pturs- distance of jjerhaps four miles, firinj^ was kept up, 
day and nii^ht. tor months ; ami it was here that the 
Twenty-fifth Regiment was jjostinl all the time it 
was in the trenches. I'orts Sedgwick and Stedman 
were known among the soldiers as particularly "hot 
places." The former received the name of " I'ort 
Hell": and its opposite in the Rebel works — I-'ort 
Mahone — was called " I^'ort Damnation." 

Probably there was more firing at the above 
mentioned forts than at any other [)lace in the whole 
line. The battles arouml Petersburg ma)' well Ix.' 
calletl the Waterloo of America, comparetl with 
which the Belgian Waterloo sinks into insignihcance. 
The assault on Petersburg. June 15th. resultetl in 



2Sth Regt., Mass. Vols. 307 

a loss to the Union troops of over ten thousand 

men. The actual siege of Petersburg be^an June ^ ^' 
19th, 1864, and the place was not captured until 
April 3d, 1865 — a period of nearl\- ten months. 

The summer of 1864 was very dry, and there was 
much sickness among the troops, dysentery being 
the prevailing disease. We suffered more from 

^ Disease. 

heat this summer than ever before. There was no 
great variety in our rations while in the trenches ; 
for instance, we had cotiee and hard-tack for break- ^"^'"ns. 
fast, boiled pork and hard-tack for dinner, coffee 
and hard-tack for supper. This diet month after 
month, together with the extremely hot weather, 
probably caused most of the sickness. We received 
at one tmie provisions trom the bamtary Com- (••,„,,. 
mission, consisting of vegetables, pickles, canned '«'"''^w. 
fruit, condensed milk, etc. These things were a 
perfect godsend to the soldiers ; and although the 
quantity, when divided among a regiment, was a 
small allowance to each man, still it did a great deal 
of good, and was thankfully received. 

A short distance from our camp, on a slight ele- 
vation, our people had planted a big gun, which 
was fired every fifteen minutes, night and day, and 
sent a shell weighing one hundred pounds into 



3o8 The Story of Compauy . I. 



1864. 



Pelersburjj ever)- time. This gun was called the 
" Petersburg Express," and for some time was firL-d 
with great regularity. 

While in the trenches the practice of exchanging 
newspapers with the enemy was started.* This was 
usually done in the morning, and in the following 
manner. One of our men would make known to 
the enem\' that he wanted to exchange a paper b)' 
shouting: "Hello, Johnny." "Hello, Yank," was 
the reply. "Got any tobacco?" " \'es ; got any 
A\»^*rf»^r papers ?" " \'es ; all right. Johnny, let's change." 
"/^^"Our man would then wave a paper upon a ramrod 
until it was seen by the cncnn . and they would wave 
one over their works in the sanut inannrr. \\ Onl 
was sent along the lines at the same lime that no 
shots were to be fired. Our man would boldly 
raise himself head and shoulders above the works, 
and the enemy would do the same ; both would then 
jump over the works and advance until they met half 
way between the lines. Here they woukl shake 
hands, exchange [papers or coffee and tobacco, say 

*ln llii» exchange LtuitineM the Julinnics u.sually uaiitcii papers, cuffcc, and 
gum blankets, while the Vankceit wanted paper!) ami lul*accu. We often gut 
through (hit source newk of hatlles fuughl licforc ue heanl »f (hcui front 
home. l-re<)ucnti)' pieces that Mould give in)|M>rlanl inforniati.>n uere i.'ul 
out by iKith partie* l>efore the pa|>cr» were exchangcil. 



2^tJL Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 309 

a few friendly words, and tlien return to their re- 

spective lines. I never knew a shot fired from either 
side while this was goin^r on. An instant after it 
would have been death if either had showed his 
head above the works. 

Jidy 2 2d Company A was reduced to its low-est 
number, and at this time might be said to have jh^ 
ceased to exist as an organization. One sergeant, company 

reduced. 

one corporal, and three privates — five men all told, 
and not an officer left. P^or a time roll calls were 
dispensed with, as there were none to answer. 
Poor old Company A ! 

Up to this time there had been little or no rain, 
but we now had a heavy storm, and we got the full -'^ '""'"' ■ 
benefit of it, as the pits and trenches were filled with 
mud and water. The boys were obliged to stay 
there night and day, and sleep as best they could. 

The Regiment at this time was under command 
of Captain Parkhurst, and had dwindled down to 
four small companies, with five officers and less than 
one hundred guns. 

During July the firing on each side was much less 
than when we first occupied the fortifications. It 
seemed as if both parties had become tired of the 
constant shootinor at one another, and sometimes 



310 The Siory oj Company A. 

days would pass with scarcely any firing. Ihc tinu' 

1864. 

liraj^^'ed slowly away, and the monoton\ of the 

thin*j was hartll\' endurable. 

At ilark on the 29lh of JuK we were relieved 
from the trenches, ami at midnight, with sixty 
rounds of ammunition and three days' rations, we 
marchetl to the left a couple of miles, and reached 
the jjosition occupietl by the Ninth Corps. Here 
we lay on the grouml until about 5 a. m., when a 
dull, heavy report startled us ; this was accompanied 
July 30. by a shaking of the grouiul. and al llic same instant 
/■-♦^iViw^our artiller)' all along the line began to play U|jon 
the enemy's works. The first reptirt was the blow- 
ing up of a Rebel fort which had been umlermined 
by our troojjs. This fort contained, as was reporteti. 
a regiment of Rebel infantry antl sixteen guns. 
The I'Ort) -eighth Pennsylvania regiment, under 
command of Lieutenant-Colonel Pleasants, origina- 
ted and executed the plan of mining and blowing uj) 
the Rebel battery. The work was commenced June 
25th. and completed in about a month. Ihe tlis- 
tance was over five hundred feet. ( )n the 271!! of 
July the powder was jilaced in the mine', the whole 
charge consisting of three hundred ami twenty kegs 
of twenty-five pounds each — in all. eight lliousand 



1864. 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. ro/s. 311 

pounds. The train was fired on the 30th of July, 
about 5 A. M. It was a terrible success. The crater 
made by the explosion was about two hundred and 
fifty feet lono-, fifty feet wide, and twenty-five feet 
deep. 

Although we stood ready for action we were not 
in position to see the full effect of the explosion, but 
those who did, say it was a terrible sight — men, 
guns, timbers and earth going heavenward together. 
After a tedious delay the Ninth Corps charp-ed. and 

' ^ After the 

carried a portion of the enemy's works, penetrating ^ay>/o^,v«. 
beyond the second line of intrenchments ; but owing 
to some unaccountable misunderstanding, troops 
were not ordered to their support. The Rebels 
rallied, our boys were driven back, and it ended in 
the enemy regaining all the ground they had lost, 
including the blown-up fort. 

We left the scene of the explosion about noon of 
the 30th, and went again into the trenches, but not 
where we were previously. In our new situation 
the lines were very near together, and a sap had 
been run from our works and a short line established 
to within fifty or sixty feet of the Rebel lines. On 
looking through our loop holes we frequently saw 
the Rebels looking at us through theirs ; and a rifle 
40 



1864. 



3 1 2 The Story of Company A. 

barrel would often be inlrotluced into these ajier- 
lures in the endeavor to obtain a shot. 

Aujjust 1st an arranj^ement was made under flag 

of truce, and parties were sent out to bury the dead 

7'ri».Y/..r from both colored antl wliiic regiments; the black 

Ai»ri,./. ^3^,pyj,^^r j}^^. black, the white bur)'inj^ the white. 

This truce lasted from 6 to i i v. M. 

In our immediate front tiie enemy disjjJaNed a 
while ILil;. and a truce took place between our regi- 
ment and the troops of the enemy directly opposed 
to us. I'his was done because the lines were so 
near toj^ether that both parties feared to show them- 
selves under the general truce. Hach parts in the 
meanwhile mounted tlieir respective breastworks, 
antl cooly sat gazing upon the other and talkinj; 
like old friends. '\\\v. distance was so short that 
small shells with fuse lighted had been thrown from 
one line to the other, after the manner of hand 
grenades. 

A good deal of fun passed between us and the 
Johnnies, and some twitting uj)on facts. One I'nion 
boy asked a Rebel : " How ilid you like that style 
of going to heaven. Johnin ?" referring to the ex- 
plosion. "We rather gave yoii hell that lime, didn't 
wc?" said another. Hul the talk U^x the m<»si part 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 313 

was good natiired ; and the burial of the dead went 



on. This was dreadful business ; the bodies had ^^^'*' 
lain upon the ground since the day of the explosion, 
and had been exposed to the hot sun during the 
day and to the dampness at night, so that their con- 
dition was horrible. Pits were dug and the bodies 
thrown in any way. When the work was completed 
a signal gun was fired, and the troops hurried back 
to their respective intrenchments. 

The Twenty-fifth Regiment was relieved by the 
Twenty-third Massachusetts on the fifth of Auijust. 
and we had fallen back to our old camp, when, about counur- 
6 p. M., we were startled by a sudden explosion ""■'"■"^• 
followed by volleys of musketry, while our batteries 
opened fire. We quickly fell into line and marched 
to the scene of the trouble, and found that the 
enemy had attempted to mine that portion of the 
works we had just left. We had expected this, for 
we had heard the Rebels at work digging for some 
time previously. They must have miscalculated 
the distance, for the explosion took place just 
outside of our line, and consequently did no harm, 
with the exception of overthrowing a few gabions 
and burying for a few minutes some half a dozen of 
our men. The plucky Twenty-third held the line. 



Several men were wounded l)\- the Rebel guns 

which com ine need firing as soon as the explosion 
occurred, and Colonel Sledman, who commanded 
our brigade, was killed. .At this time troops hail 
been taken from our line and sent elsewhere, and 
the duly was now more severe than ever, as we 
were in the ire-iuhcs four successive days, with only 
tAvo of relief. 

A few days after this explosion we occupieil an- 
other jjosition in the intrenchments where the lines 
were about two huiulrtxl tcel apart, anil between 
them for a long distance was a great field of corn. 
When the fortifications were built this corn was some 
two feet high, while at this time it was six feet in 
hci-'lu, aiul fairly concealed the Rebel works from 

• "' our view. One dark night, after the moon had gone 
down, men were sent over the breastworks to cut 
down this corn, which was (piickly and (piietly ac- 
complished as far as could be done, and the next 
day the boys were feasting on the green ears. 

One niifht a bi«/ fire was seen in Petersbun-. WC 
could hear the bells ring arui iIk- engines whistle. 
whil<r our big gun. " 1 h(? Petersburg b'xpress," sent 
its regular messages into that afllicied city. 



1864. 



A Rebel 



25th Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 315 

While lying in the trenches in the vicinity of Vox'i 
Stedman, a large gun in the ent;m)''s line had caused 
us a great deal of trouble. One day a large mortar 
was put in position and trained upon this gun. The 
soldiers crowded around to witness the effect of the 
first shell. In a few minutes it was fired, and its 
course was watched with a great deal of interest ; it 
was seen to strike outside the enemy's works and 
harmlessly explode. A second shell was fired. 
Higher and higher it ascended and soon began 
falling in a graceful curve in the exact range of the 
bipf enn. It was seen to fall inside the enemy's 

J5 & J gun 

works, and an instant later exploded ; a cloud of silenced. 
dust was thrown high in the air, in which could be 
seen the form of a man, pieces of timber, etc. This 
shell had done its work, and the Rebel gun was 
dismounted. 

One day we had an exceedingly heavy rain, and 
the little stream which ran through the ravine where 
we camped suddenly overflowed its banks, and 

'- •' A torrent 

rushed along, a perfect torrent, filling the whole 
ravine with water. So suddenly did this take place 
that some sick soldiers lying in their tents were 
near being drowned. Large army wagons were 
carried down the stream for some distance, which 



3l6 The Story of Compatiy . I. 

shows the strength of the torrent. The waters siih- 

sicled as ({uickly as they had risen ; no lives were 
lost and Httle damage was done. 

At this time the Regiment was receiving recruits 
Ironi Massachusetts, ami such god-forsaken speci- 
mens as some of them were, it would be hard to 
match. It seemed as if the good, patriotic j^eople 
of Worcester hat! r()hl)ed hospitals to find substitutes 
to fill their (juota. Ihere were old. broken-down 
men, very young boys ; ami one or more were idiotic 
7V4Hf* antl one was afflicted w iih epilepsy. .Several were 

retrmtj. ^^ janie that lluy had to carry canes, ami taken 
altogether the)' wvrv the toughest lot of recruits the 
Regiment had recei\ed. These men had taken 
their Ijounties. and one of them actually received 
more money ($1200) than an)' individual of the 
original members ditl for three years* service.'. Tlu* 
majority of these recruits were returned as being 
unfit lor duty, but the persons for whom lluy were 
enrolled as substitutes, and b) whom they were 
j)aid for this ;/rv/-service. effectually escaped thereby 
their liability to the draft. 

August 27th found the kegimenl in camp near 
Cobb's Hill. wher(t it had ])een sent for a much 
needeil. often promised, and well earned rest. ll 



25tJi Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 317 

we reckon the time from April 26th. when the 

Regiment was assigned to Heckman's Brigade, un- 
til this date, August 27th, we have four months, 
during which we were constantly on duty and 
actually under fire. This camp was a comfortable 

^ A rest. 

one, and it was a treat to be able to walk about 
without fear of being shot. The lines at this point 
were a quarter of a mile apart, and the Union and 
Rebel pickets were on very friendly terms, ex- 
changing papers and conversing with each other 
daily. The Rebel pickets even saluted our officers 
when they chanced to see them. 

About September ist orders were received for 
the Regiment to start for North Carolina, so we 
sailed down the lames ag-ain, to Portsmouth, where 7, [ 

-' ^ ' North 

we obtained our knapsacks left there four months Carolina. 
before. On September 6th we went on board the 
steamer Wenonah, and proceeded on our way, but 
a thick fog came on, and we anchored for the night 
near the village of Hampton. A heavy gale blow- 
ing outside detained us for a time, but at length we 
sailed from Hampton Roads, and after a fair pas- 
sage around Cape Hatteras, arrived at New Berne 
on the loth. 



3 1 8 The Story of Company A. 

Our camp was pitched on the bank of the Trent 

river, ()|)|>()siie the town and near the railroad bridge 
which was destroyed when New Berne was cap- 

\eu- tiTeil. Most of the companies were sent out on 

fiernt pickt-i limy. It was amiising to observe the boys 
as they waiulered around the camj). careless and 
haj)py. — no firin^^ here, no beinj.^ shot at ; ami the 
time of service was drawinj^ to a close lt)r the 
**Used-to-bes." 

At this tinie a siran«,a- disease hrokt* out in New 
Berne which proved generally fatal. I'his was at 
last ijronounced to be yellow kvcr. and it continued 

/rtvr. to increase in virulence until it bi-came epidemic. 
The people died in such numbers that it was almost 
impossible to bury them. rhirlecn hundred dietl 
in six weeks. Comratle (ieorge 1". Pcnniman dieil 
September iSth, and Comrade Reuben 11. DeLuce 
on the 20th, both of ncIIow fever. riuscr men had 
been detailed from our compan\ , and hatl remained 
on duty in New Berne ever since its caj^ture. es- 
caping all the hardships of the campaign to die as 
time drew near for them to be discharged from ser- 
vice. During the prevalenc<.' of this disease in .New 
Berne many sad cases came to our knowUnlge ; in 
one instance a house was broken o|)en by the police 



2sth Rcgt., Mass. Vols. 319 

and a whole family found dead ; yet many of the 

sick recovered. The disease was accounted for by ^'^^^' 
the filthy condition of the town. 

We visited our old home, Camp Oliver, and found 
the ground covered with negro shanties. One or 
two old cook houses were the only signs remainincr 
of the occupation of the place by the Twenty-fifth. 

On the 5th of October those of the Regiment who 
had not re-enlisted — fifteen officers and two hundred 
and forty-eight men — bade their comrades "Good- 
bye," and, under command of Captain Denny, took 
the cars for Morehead City. We were bound for 

llonu- 

homc now, and not for the battle field. At More- ward 
head City we went on board the steamer, Dudley '"'""'^■ 
Buck, and putting out to sea, doubled Cape Hat- 
teras once more (the sixth time for some of us), 
reaching Fortress Monroe at 10 a. m. of October 7th. 
On account of coming from a port infected with 
yellow fever we anchored at the quarantine ground. 
After some delay here, we were allowed to proceed 
to New York, where we arrived on Sunday, the 9th. 
While on the passage from North Carolina two 
men (not of the 25th) had died of yellow fever, and 
were buried at sea. We were held in quarantine until 
Wednesday, the 12th, when we passed up to the 
41 



320 The Story of Company A. 

city and disembarked. That afternoon the Regiment 

look passage on one of tlie Norwich line of boats 
for New London, reaching that place sometime after 
midnight. Here a delay was proposed, as our 
Worcester friends wisheil to give us a pubHc re- 
ception on our arrival ; but the boys were impatient 
to see home, and, taking the regular train, we 
reached our journey's end at 4 a. m. of October 13th. 
What a contrast to that October tlay of three 
years before. Then it was a bright and beautiful 
day. with ihousamls to i)iil us good-bye ; now it was 

.V ^ a cold and clucrlcss inorninLf. and (not beingf ex- 
pected at that trarK hour) none to give us wulcome. 
Hut it was soon noisetl abroad, and the City Hall 
was filled with people eager to get a sight of the 
soldiers. Among the first to greet us was "Our 
*01d Captain." Colonel Pickett, still suffering from 
his wound of June 3d at Cold Harbor; anti lame as 
he was, he had walked to the Cit\ Hall to bid his 
old comrades welcome — and what a greeting was 
that ! .After a collation providtnl by the City, we 
were addressed 1)\ the Mavor. \\<^n\. P. Waldo 
Lincoln, Colonel William S. Lincoln (of the 34th). 
and Colonel Pickett. We were then dismissed to 
meet again October roih for final muster-out. 



321 



25th Reg/., Mass. J'ols. 

On our departure from New Berne those of the 

Regiment who had re-enhsted — three hundred and ^ ^' 
sixty men — were consoHdated into four companies, 
with ten officers. They did picket and guard duty 
around New Berne, and participated in an expedi- 
tion to Kinston and a brilHant engagement near 
Wise's Forks, N. C. This portion of the Regiment 
was mustered out July 21st, 1865 — after the close 
of the war. 

On the 20th of October, 1864, the Company met 
again in Worcester, and, in front of the Old City 
Hall, were mustered out of the service of the 

Oct. 20. 

United States. The original Company A. Twenty- j/„^/^^. 
fifth Regiment Massachusetts Volunteers was no "'*'■ 
more. Our full term of service — three years — had 
expired — long years they had been to us ; and with 
the proud satisfaction that duty to our country had 
been "well done," we found ourselves again private 
citizens. 

With hand-shaking, tearful eyes, and every ex- 
pression of good will and farewell toward each other, 
the members of the Company separated, never to 
meet again ; never again to rally under the starry 
splendors of " Old Glory " ; never again to participate 
in the wild excitement of the charge, or with quick 



The Story of Company A. 

eye and elastic step fuul place in the skirmish line ; 
but henceforth to the end to lead the (jiiiet life of 
peaceful citizens. 

Company A Association was formed some years 
later, and annual reunions have been rej^ularly held ; 
but the men who were mustered out on that 20th of 
October. 1864, never all met ai^^ain. for — 

"Some arc dead, ami svunc are gone. 
Ami some are scaltered an«l alone." 

One by one they disapjjear — driltinij away like 
withered leaves, on the- uncertain title of later years. 

At present writing about thirty members of the 
Company Association conie toL(eth<,T at tlie annual 
meetinj^s. 



And now, kinti, induli^ent comrades, farewell. 
The story is ended. Would it were better told, but 
"what is wrillcn. is written." 

If any shall find ph-asure in followinjr through 
these pages — the wanderings of this band of m<'n. 
this company of soldicrrs ; shall glt)ry with llicm in 
their victories, and s)-mpathiz«' with them in their 



2sth Re of., Mass. Vols. 

losses and reverses ; if any comrade shall call up 
pleasant memories of his soldier life by the perusal 
of this simple narrative — then, possibly, this story 
has not been told in vain. 

Again, farewell, 

Samuel H. Putnam, 

Late Orderly Sergeant, Company A, and Sergeant Major, 25th 
Regiment, Mass. Vols. 

Worcester, Mass., April 30, 1886. 



THE DEAD OF COMPANY A. 

*** Names of those who died in the Service. 

Georce E. Curtis, died at Hatteras Inlet, N. C, Jan. 21, 1862. 
Eli Pike, killed at New Berne, March 15, 1862. 
Lucius F. Kingman, died at New Berne, Sept. 24, 1862. 
Edwin D. Waters, died at New Berne, Nov. 5, 1862. 
John B. Savage, died a prisoner at Richmond, March i, 1864. 
^VILLIAM E. HoLiMAN, killed at Proctor's Creek, May 12, 1864. 
Henry Goulding, killed at Drewry's Bluff, May 14, 1864. 
Lyman J. Prentiss, died of wounds at Hampton Hospital, May 

16, 1864. 
Walter H. Richards, died of wounds at Richmond, May 18, '64. 
Francis B. Brock, killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 



324 TV/** Story of Company A. 

Ik-\ l.iNi»KV, killed at Cohl Harl>or, June 3, 1864. 

SiUNKV J. AiKiNsoN, killed at Cold Harbor, June 3, 1864. 

LiBFRn W. SixiNK. died of wounds ai Milford, Mass., July 5. '64. 

JusH'H L. I)KL.\NKV, killeil at lVlcn>l)urg, June 8, 1864. 

Jam^> Wkhk, died of wounds in New V'ork harlxjr, June 23, 1864. 

Abkl S. Asokij^ died June 28, 1864. 

Bk-S'Jamis C. Ciki-KNK. shuT by Rebel guard while sitting on a win- 
dow sill at Libby l*rison ; tlied of the wound. Sept. 1 1, '64. 

Geokcc F. Pkxniman, died of yellow fever at New Heme, Sept. 
18. 1864. 

RkUHK-N H. DkIaxk, died of yellow fever at New Heme. Sept. 20. 
1864. 

Jkromf H. FuiJ.Kk, died a prisoner at Florence, S. C, Oct. 26, '64. 

John \. 'rMOMisoN. died at New Heme. 1864. 

Jamks M. H''\' V ■''••'' 'M New H'-rne, 1864. 



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